2020 Safe Sleep Certification

Bronze Safe Sleep Hospital

LeConte Medical Center was recently recognized by the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program as a “Bronze Safe Sleep Hospital” for the hospital’s commitment to best practices and education related to infant safe sleep. This is the second “Safe Sleep” certification earned by LeConte Medical Center.

The certification program was created by Cribs for Kids®, the only national infant safe sleep organization. As a nationally certified Safe Sleep Hospital, LeConte Medical Center is recognized for following the safe sleep guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and providing training programs for healthcare team members and family caregivers.

The Bronze recognition certifies that LeConte Medical Center develops a safe sleep policy statement incorporating the AAP’s Infant Safe Sleep guidelines, educates parents on the importance of safe sleep practices and trains staff on safe sleep guidelines and the hospital’s safe sleep policy.

“LeConte Medical Center is focused on helping to prevent deaths related to unsafe sleep conditions, which affect 3,500 babies every year,” said Karen Ott, BSN, RNC, the OB nurse manager for LeConte Medical Center. “By being a certified Bronze Safe Sleep Hospital and providing education to our patients and families, it helps to lower the risk of accidental death.”

From patient admittance to discharge, Ott and her team focus on teaching patients and parents the ABC’s of safe sleep:

A – Baby sleeps safest while sleeping alone.

B – Always put babies on their back to sleep.

C – Baby should sleep always sleep in a crib, bassinet or play yard for every nap and at bedtime.

According to Judith A. Bannon, executive director and founder of Cribs for Kids, the certification program launched in 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and hundreds of hospitals across the U.S. are certified.

“We welcome LeConte Medical Center to this expanding group of committed hospitals. This will have a profound effect on the saving babies’ lives,” Bannon said.

LeConte Medical Center delivered 1,000 babies last year.

For more information on the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification program, visit CribsForKids.org/HospitalCertification/.