Baby Sleep Project Protocol: a realist evaluation of an intervention to reduce preventable infant mortality

In the UK, approximately 300 infants each year die suddenly and unexpectedly, with most deaths remaining unexplained. Population-wide 'Safer Sleep' messages have brought rates down but remaining deaths now predominantly occur within families experiencing poverty. Many of these deaths may be preventable as the majority have known, avoidable risks present. New resources and tools for health professionals and families have been developed to address modifiable barriers to implementing safer sleep advice in this priority group of families. This study aims to understand how the Baby Sleep Project resources work to improve the uptake of safer sleep advice, including for whom, and in what contexts they work best.

Realist evaluation will be used, including both qualitative and quantitative methods. Data will be collected both pre- and post-health professional training in the new resources. We will invite neonatal staff, health visitors and family nurse partnerships nurses, and primary caregivers of infants to take part. We will carry out qualitative interviews with health professionals and caregivers. Quantitative surveys looking at implementation for health professionals, changes in infant care knowledge and practice, and parenting self-efficacy will be conducted with caregivers. Mechanisms of action, contexts and outcomes from the new resources will be tested against the initial programme theory. The findings from this research will inform evidence-based explanations of how to improve the uptake of health advice in priority populations.

The study was given a favourable opinion by the South West-Frenchay Research Ethics Committee (ref: 23/SW/0119). We will publish our findings in academic journals and talk about them at conferences. We will make sure the people who took part in the study hear about them first. If the resources are shown to be useful, we will work with charities and the National Health Service to roll them out across the whole of the UK.

ISRCTN3364337.