SGMC Employees Commit to Newborn Sleep Safety

Patient Care Tech Morgan Moore swaddles baby Penelope Scott in a HALO SleepSack purchased with funds raised by South Georgia Medical Center’s Employee Giving Campaign.

Babies delivered at South Georgia Medical Center will sleep a little safer thanks to the generous giving of employees to the hospital’s Foundation. The Foundation implemented an employee giving campaign, named #iCommit, last Fall. Funds raised support various hospital initiatives, one of those included enhancing it’s Safe to Sleep program.

With 630 employees donating to the campaign, the employee giving committee chose to fund HALO SleepSack Swaddle wearable blankets for newborns delivered at the hospital. SGMC adopted the Safer Way to Sleep Hospital program in 2016. The program provides healthcare professionals with an innovative method to teach safe sleep to parents as soon as their baby is born.  

According to HALO, studies consistently indicate that what parents see nurses do in the hospital is retained better than simply being told what to do. This program replaces the traditional nursery blankets with a free supply of HALO SleepSack Swaddle wearable blankets to model a safe, blanket-free alternative for parents. 

“The Safe to Sleep campaign has been a great addition to our hospital’s communication, which seeks to reduce the number of SIDS cases in our community,” shared Cathy Swilley, Associate Inpatient Unit Director for the Nursery. “Lowndes County has the highest infant mortality rate in the state of Georgia and we want to do everything is our power to educate parents and bring this number down.” Swilley says the HALO SleepSacks are highly recommended instead of the use of blankets which could cover the baby’s face and interfere with breathing. “We are thankful to the employees at SGMC for supporting this important initiative,” she said. 

Participation in the program also qualifies hospitals for the highest level of National Safe Sleep Certification sponsored by Cribs for Kids. Today, approximately 3,500 infants die each year from SIDS and SUID (Sudden Unexplained Infant Death). 

“It’s very gratifying working for an organization whose employees proactively support important initiatives, such as SIDS prevention,” said Erika Bennett, SGMC Communications Specialist and #iCommit member.  

Members of South Georgia Medical Center’s Employee Giving Committee present Labor and Delivery nurses and staff with HALO SleepSacks.