‘Back To Sleep’ Push Saving Babies’ Lives

The simple act of putting babies to bed on their backs instead of their stomachs may be the reason for a 30 percent drop in sudden infant death syndrome in America, a federal study says.

Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said the dramatic change in the rate of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, has to be attributed to a campaign to bed babies on their back “because nothing else has changed.”

“This has been one of the simplest and most effective public health interventions ever,” said Alexander. He said at least 1,500 babies have been saved in the United States over the last two years by a “Back to Sleep” campaign in which parents, care-givers and pediatricians were all educated on how best to put baby down.