Change for our Children

Pursue protection so that I may dream

Human babies are designed to need protecting, even when they sleep. In New Zealand, about 60 babies per year die sudden unexpected deaths, most of them preventable. Safe Start™ is our programme of professional and community education to ensure every person in New Zealand knows, accepts and acts on infant safety knowledge. To protect a child is to respect that child.

Do you know ...

• how babies are designed to protect themselves
• how babies compensate when their care is sub-optimal
• what situations introduce risk into a baby's place of sleep
• the six principles of safety from sudden death in infancy (SUDI)
• how babies brains develop, breathing develops, emotional memories develop
• what babies expect from their care

Do you accept ...

• that a baby's resilience is influenced by experiences in pregnancy
• that sleeping babies need to breathe
• that it is not OK for infant death rates to be higher for some groups than for others  
• that a child has a right to the support needed to survive infancy
• that protecting children is everyone's business, not just families
• most sudden unexpected deaths in infancy are preventable

Do you act ...

• to have safe sleep conversations as standard support for every parent of a newborn
• to keep updated on changing evidence and refreshed thinkings as SUDI rates change
• to communicate established facts and not personal opinion
• to ensure a baby stays safe during sleep, for every sleep
• to speak up when safe start principles of care are challenged by colleagues or parents
• to foster understanding and the confidence to trust in safety principles

 We link to our networks regularly through the Transform communique.