Collaborating with obstetrical providers to promote infant safe sleep guidelines

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Public Health
• Obstetrics

Background:

• Infant safe sleep guidelines are crucial for reducing sleep-related infant deaths.
• Prenatal care provides a key opportunity to educate expectant parents on safe sleep practices.
• Consistent provider-patient communication is vital for guideline adherence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the Safe Sleep Toolkit in promoting American Academy of Pediatrics infant safe sleep guidelines.
• To assess the impact of the toolkit on provider counseling and maternal knowledge regarding infant safe sleep.
• To improve provider and maternal understanding of safe sleep recommendations.

Main Methods:

• An intervention using the Safe Sleep Toolkit was implemented with 11 obstetrical providers and staff.
• 111 pregnant women (56 pre-intervention, 55 post-intervention) participated in the study.
• Data collected included provider-reported counseling time and knowledge, and maternal surveys on knowledge, intentions, and discussion of safe sleep.

Main Results:

• Post-intervention, 78% of women reported their provider discussed safe sleep, compared to 32% pre-intervention (P<.001).
• Provider-reported discussions on all safe sleep guidelines increased significantly (82%-90% vs 8%-12%, all P<.001).
• Maternal knowledge of safe sleep practices, particularly unsafe ones, showed significant improvement post-intervention.

Conclusions:

• Training obstetrical providers with a safe sleep toolkit enhances prenatal education on infant safe sleep.
• The intervention effectively increased the delivery of safe sleep information during prenatal appointments.
• Improved maternal knowledge and intentions regarding safe infant sleep were observed following the intervention.