Reducing risk for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies: trial of a safe sleep enabler to reduce the risk of sudden unexpected deaths in infancy in high risk environments

At the time that this study commenced, the former Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian in Queensland reported the rate of SUDI for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants at 3-4 times higher than the SUDI infant mortality rate for non-Indigenous infants for the previous three reporting periods (167.0 vs. 49.3 deaths/1000,000) (QFCC, 2016). Co-sleeping is a common practice particularly for breastfeeding infants and is the cultural norm in many Indigenous communities. However infant deaths have been associated with co-sleeping in hazardous circumstances. The use of portable sleep spaces to reduce the risk of SUDI for families with identified risk factors has not been previously reported in Australia. Indigenous communities had identified this area as a priority for investigation (Dodd, 2012).Please cite this record using the following DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25907/5c6b462922760Full text is embargoed until December 2019