Using Partnerships to Reduce Infant Deaths: How Cincinnati Rallied Around the Issue of Safe Sleep

This presentation will present an overview of how Cincinnati rallied to promote safe sleep for infants through a variety of unique partnerships and methods. Prior to this partnership, Hamilton County, OH saw an average of 16.1 sleep-related deaths a year from 2007-2013 (ranging from 14-18 each year). In 2014, this number dropped significantly to 7 sleep-related infant deaths. Here is what changed: maternity hospitals, non profit organizations, civic and political leaders, corporations and faith leaders all came together to prioritize the issue.  Interventions included: a hospital learning collaborative that enhanced signage and education in hospital settings and changed the modeling of sleep in nurseries; a partnership of more than 20 churches that helped spread the message; a collaborative of prenatal care providers who measurably changed the way they discuss sleep; a well-promoted free crib program; safe sleep signage in the baby aisels at local grocery stores; and a robust messaging campaign that included billboards, bus advertisments, social media, newspaper and radio ads.