Sudden Unexpected Death Infancy (SUDI) Prevention Programme

SUDI is when a baby who was considered to be well, dies suddenly and unexpectedly.  This can occur from birth to 1 year of age but most frequently happens in babies under 6 months of age.  In CM Health between 8-10 babies die each year of SUDI occurring mostly in Maaori and Pacifika babies.  SUDI is preventable and by using and sharing the safe sleep messages we can protect our babies.  

The PEPE safe sleep message is:

Place baby in his or her own baby bed, in the same room as the caregiver

Eliminate smoking in pregnancy and protect baby by having a smoke-free whaanau, whare and waka

Position baby flat on his or her back to sleep, face clear of bedding or toys

Encourage and support exclusive breastfeeding and gentle handling of baby

CM Health SUDI Prevention Programme has had an established and evolving safe sleep programme since 2012.  There are a number of initiatives taking place to effectively reduce the incidence of SUDI, the following provides an overview of our programme to date:  

1. Provision of safe sleep beds to those babies identified as being vulnerable of SUDI.
2. Development of a Safe Sleep Calculator to better identify babies at greater risk of SUDI during pregnancy and at birth
3. Expand opportunities within Primary Care around SUDI identification and programmes.
4. Incentivising pregnant women, postnatal women and their whaanau to be be Smokefree. 
5. Promoting breastfeeding services 
6. Maintain a skilled workforce to ensure safe sleep modelling, SUDI knowledge and carry out regular safe sleep audits within CM Health. 
7. Expand opportunities of development and education for improved SUDI prevention within the community.
8. Progressing culturally appropriate safe sleep beds and programmes for whaanau 
9. Collaborative working with the Northern region DHBs to ensure consistancy  of planning, messaging and the sharing of innovative initiatives.