Touro Foundation Receives Junior League New Orleans Grant for Safe Sleep Sacks

The Touro Infirmary Foundation received a Community Assistance Grant from the Junior League of New Orleans (JLNO) to launch a Sleep Sack Program for families delivering babies at the Touro Infirmary Family Birthing Center.

Modeling safe sleep should start as soon as the baby is born, and all families regardless of financial ability should be given the tools to provide their baby with that safety. With support from the Junior League of New Orleans, Touro Infirmary’s Family Birthing Center can ensure that all families learn the importance of safe sleep and leave the hospital with the tools and education they need to create this safety at home.

Despite improvement in recent years, Louisiana continues to have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the United States. SIDS cases represent 18.8% of all infant deaths in Louisiana.

Babies need warmth while sleeping, and studies show that blankets or loose bedding can increase the risk of suffocation or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). SIDS is the leading cause of post-neonatal death between the ages of 28 days and one year.

Touro Infirmary has been known as the “Place Where Babies Come From” for over 30 years. We serve the greater New Orleans areas with women’s services and are one of the top four hospitals in the state of Louisiana in deliveries. By providing a safe sleep sack to the families, mothers can feel comfortable knowing they are providing a safe environment for their newborn, helping the baby sleep better and safer when possible. This can relieve a small amount of stress and anxiety the mother may experience with a newborn benefiting both the caregiver, as well as supporting physical and mental health.

Safe Sleep Sacks will officially be available to patients beginning on November 17, 2018.