Back to Sleep (BTS) Campaign
Director's Award, MCHB 75th Anniversary Celebration
At the 75th Anniversary of Title V/Maternal and Child Health Federal/State Partnership
Meeting in October, 2010, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau
acknowledged individuals, organizations and collaborations
for significant contributions to the field of Maternal and
Child Health (MCH). The various awards given were designed
to recognize pioneers and emerging leaders in MCH who have
contributed to the field through innovative practices, partnerships
and research at the local, State and National levels.
One of the awards given at the Partnership meeting is the Director’s Award. This prestigious award recognizes the contributions made to improve the health of infants, mothers, children, adolescent and children with special health care needs in the Nation. This year, The Back to Sleep Campaign received the Directors Award in the Collaborations category.
Back to Sleep (BTS) Campaign
The Back to Sleep campaign began in 1994 as a way to educate parents, caregivers, and health care providers about ways to reduce the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The campaign was named for its recommendation to place healthy babies on their backs to sleep. Placing babies on their backs to sleep reduces the risk for SIDS, also known as "crib death." This campaign has been successful in promoting infant back sleeping and other risk-reduction strategies to parents, family members, child care providers, health professionals, and all other caregivers of infants. Since the start of the campaign, the number of babies dying of SIDS has decreased by more than 50 percent.
The following is the Nomination Narrative submitted for this prestigious award.
The Back to Sleep (BTS) campaign is nominated, because it
exemplifies how the best of what the public health model offers
has
saved the lives of infants and improved the lives of their
families.
BTS was a response to the identification of and increased scientific
and policy focus on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) brought
by
family advocacy organizations, many of which coalesced into
the SIDS
Alliance (now First Candle/SIDS Alliance), in the 1970's. With
the
public health problem identified, passage of the Sudden Infant
Death
Syndrome Act (Public Law 93-270) of 1974 institutionalized
a federal
response to provide research and develop a program of public
information and educational materials about SIDS. From this
framework, one of the most successful public health interventions
to
address infant mortality applied the principles of public
health—assessment utilizing epidemiologic data, intervention
based on
that research and assurance through ongoing monitoring.
Based on epidemiologic research that sleep position—prone
sleeping—was a significant risk factor for SIDS and on monitoring
of
the success of similar campaigns to change sleep position in
other
countries, BTS began in 1994 as a way to educate parents, caregivers,
and health care providers about ways to reduce the risk for
Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Utilizing effective partnerships
and
collaboration BTS lead to a decline of SIDS rates by more than
50%.
Ongoing monitoring through PRAMS surveys in states and through
assessment using vital statistics data and epidemiologic studies
revealed that those decreases were not equitably
distributed—significant disparities in rates for African-American
and
American Indian/Native Alaskan babies continued. In the best
implementation of a public health approach, that monitoring
and
reassessment has led to modifications of BTS to address the
cultural
issues that have impacted those disparities, including an African
American Outreach Campaign and an American Indian/Native Alaskan
Outreach Campaign. Monitoring has also revealed that while
SIDS rates
have decreased, there is no longer an overall decrease in infant
mortality due to unexpected causes and the BTS partners are
now
focusing on a broader set of issues for safe sleep beyond supine
position.
The partners in this campaign include:
- the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development—coordinates and funds research and develops and distributes BTS materials;
- the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration—funded state SIDS programs until SIDS became one of the eligible services to be provided under the MCH Block Grant and funds a Consortium to support stated and local MCH programs implementing BTS consisting of the Resource Center, the Program Support Center and the National Center for Cultural Competence;
- the American Academy of Pediatrics—reviews the research
and issues policy statements on recommended SIDS risk reduction
approaches that guide the BTS campaign and has produced a
training curriculum for
child care providers; - First Candle/SIDS Alliance—mobilizes parents to advocate for education and research, SIDS awareness month and SIDS proclamation throughout the country and develops materials and support services for families; and
- the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs—supports maternal and child health and SIDS professionals implementing BTS at the state and local levels.
