Hospitals must now send along SIDS info with new baby
From Illinois Business Journal news services
SPRINGFIELD – Hospitals will soon send new parents home with materials to combat Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, under a new law.
Legislation sponsored by state Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign, was signed into law Wednesday to ensure that materials on SIDS prevention provided to parents include information from the American Academy of Pediatrics or a statewide or nationally-recognized SIDS or medical association.
“As a new parent, there is a lot of excitement as well as pressure to provide the best care for your children. This new law will help ease some of the burden by providing new parents with vital and reliable information on how they can help to protect their children from SIDS,” Bennett said.
SIDS is a sudden and silent medical disorder that can happen to an infant who appears healthy. It is the leading cause of death among babies between 1 month and 1 year of age. In 2011, about one out of 2,300 infants born in the nation died of SIDS before their first birthdays.
The cause of SIDS is unknown, however educational campaigns helped raise awareness to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death.
For more information on the “Safe Sleep” campaign, please visit www.aap.org.
House Bill 1407, known as “Cody’s Law,” goes into effect immediately.
