Unsafe sleep caused the deaths of 19 Indiana babies during August, leaving those families experiencing excruciating loss.
That represented a spike to nearly double the normal monthly total, but sadly eight to 10 Hoosier babies suffocate to death each month because of unsafe sleep, which is the third leading cause of infant deaths, according to Dr. Jennifer Bales, the Wayne County health officer. She told the county’s Board of Health during its Sept. 9 meeting that five Wayne County baby deaths since the beginning of 2024 have been attributed to unsafe sleep.
Bales provided the ABCs of safe sleep.
“A,” she said, is that babies should sleep “alone,” never with parents.
“The adult arm over an infant’s torso is enough to cause suffocation and death, so it is very unsafe, any kind of co-sleeping,” Bales said.
“B” stands for putting babies on their “backs” anytime they will sleep, even for naps.
“C” is for a “crib,” although Bales said pack and plays work, as well.
“It needs to be a firm surface with no soft stuff, so no bumpers, no toys, no pillows, no blankets,” Bales said.
Parents tend to bundle babies, but Bales said they should avoid overheating the babies, who need only about as much warmth as adults. Sleep sacks provide the safest option for covering babies.
Families need a plan for how a baby will sleep at home and should also be prepared for safe sleep when away from home.
“It is really, really important if you have a new infant in the household that you have a safe-sleep plan, where will your child sleep when they go home from the hospital,” Bales said.
All caregivers, including family members and babysitters, should know the ABCs of safe sleep.
“When it happens, it’s just devastating to the family,” said Dr. Paul Rider, chair of the health board, “and, of course, people never expect it can happen to them.”
Family Resource Center offers weekly safe sleep education at 4 p.m. Mondays at 714 N. 12th St., Richmond, and it can provide pack and plays. Call 765-935-6349 for more information.
Reid Health’s community workers also provide pack and plays, while the Wayne County Health Department distributes sleep sacks and sometimes has pack and plays available at 100 S. Fifth St., Richmond. Beth Newton, the health department’s deputy director of clinical services, said parents can reach out to the health department at 765-973-9245 for more information about available services.
HFI contracts
Dan Burk, the health department’s director, said that about $1,190,000 remains in the department’s Health First Indiana fund. Burk has conserved money this year to carry over funding into 2026 when the state slashed the county’s Health First Indiana share to $414,000.
Original two-year contracts with the county’s local partners for Health First Indiana core services end Dec. 31, but with the carryover, the health department is accepting 2026 proposals through Sept. 30. Those would be one-year contracts.
The proposals will be brought before the health board for its approval before going to county commissioners for final approval.
A version of this article appeared in the September 17 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.