October is Safe Sleep Month, a time when the Healthcare Foundation of La Porte (HFL) aims to draw awareness to how families can provide safe sleep environments for their babies. On Thursday, October 12, HFL held an October Safe Sleep Celebration and Commemoration to celebrate the strides HFL’s partners have made to keep our county’s babies happy and thriving. Gratitude, excitement, and hope hung in the air as partners from throughout the county connected and bonded over all they’ve achieved.
“The more we do as a team, the more our individual communities and county succeed. A lot of hard work has been put into this by each and every one of you, so look to your right and look to your left and say congratulations,” said Mary Wellnitz, HFL’s special projects manager.
The event began with Dr. Gary Wheeland, HFL board member and retired family physician, giving some background on La Porte County’s infant mortality problem. He explained that, compared to both the Indiana state and national average, La Porte County had one of the highest rates of infant mortality due to many causes such as unsafe sleep, smoking, preterm births, and low birth weight.
When HFL learned about this, its team knew they had to do something. In 2019, HFL formed a Partners for Healthier Babies Council to help combat this tragic problem. The council was composed of more than 30 members from 15 different organizations, all of whom were eager to make a change within their community. Everyone got to work.
“Developing relationships and interaction between our community’s various resources and agencies was key. Together, we looked at the multitude of issues that were impacting our expectant mothers and their babies. We worked in complementary ways to identify gaps in services and initiate research-based interventions,” said Wheeland.
Everyone’s efforts paid off. Wheeland officially announced to everyone that, in 2021, there were no infant deaths caused by unsafe sleep practices.
“We’ve markedly reduced infant deaths from unsafe sleep in our community and that’s largely due to the combined efforts of everyone sitting here in this room. I appreciate everyone’s efforts so much. We are definitely moving in the right direction, and that is fantastic,” said Wheeland.
Attendees also celebrated the one-year anniversary of the La Porte County Fetal-Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) team. The FIMR team was created in 2022 to review data gathered from a variety of sources to gain a better understanding of how and why infant deaths kept happening. The team then used that information to give recommendations to the Partners for Healthier Babies Council on what changes could be made.
Even though FIMR is barely a year old, it has already made some invaluable recommendations to the Partners for Healthier Babies Council. At the event, Peggy Rose, FIMR coordinator, discussed the recommendations made to the council.
“It looks like all the safe sleep initiatives that were instituted by Partners for Healthier Babies had a significant impact on the infant mortality rate. The work doesn’t end here, though. We need to continue having ongoing re-engagement with the providers in our community about safe sleep and keep spreading a consistent message, we need to spread awareness of infant product recalls from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and we need to keep emphasizing early prenatal care, preconception care, and counseling for parents,” Rose said.
To wrap up the event, several partners came forward to share their own organization’s efforts. It was astonishing to hear about all the different things organizations are doing to help families keep their babies safe. Between giving away free cribs, diapers, and wipes to families in need and providing free education and support groups to parents, the opportunities for support are endless.
Even better, many partners shared how they actively work with one another to get families in touch with the exact resources they need. Everyone was excited to have the opportunity to make more connections and strengthen partner relationships.
“It’s so nice to see everyone’s faces – it’s been a while since we’ve all gotten to be in this room together. It’s also nice getting to see some new faces – I already see several people I need to connect with. The partnerships within this community are just wonderful. I’ve worked in other counties before, but nothing compares to the sharing of information and support here. It’s amazing,” said Jodi Perrine, prenatal care coordinator with Franciscan Health, Michigan City.
At the end of the event, HFL gave each partner a stack of Maternal Care in La Porte County brochures and sleep sacks to take back to their organization and share with new parents. Everyone grabbed up their supplies eagerly, excited to give them away to those in need. The Maternal Care brochure offers a comprehensive listing of products and services available from partners throughout La Porte County. The brochure is just another piece of evidence of how these partners are working collaboratively together for a common cause bigger than one partner. And sleep sacks, provided by the Indiana Department of Health, are a safe way to keep a baby warm while sleeping, reducing suffocation risks from having blankets in the crib.
Ultimately, HFL’s October Safe Sleep Celebration and Commemoration was an uplifting day for everyone, celebrating the progress made and the ongoing partnerships toward saving La Porte County babies.
“This truly is cause for celebration,” said Maria Fruth, HFL President and CEO. “We are tremendously grateful to the PHB Council and the La Porte County Health Department. Our partners working in infant health are to be applauded. As I always say, it takes a village -- and our work continues!”
To learn more about the Healthcare Foundation of La Porte and Partners for Healthier Babies, visit www.hflaporte.org.
