Mercer County Community Hospital has recently been recognized as a “Gold Safe Sleep Hospital” by the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program. This designation was awarded due to their commitment to best practices and education on infant safe sleep. The program, created by Cribs for Kids®, a national infant safe sleep organization based in Pittsburgh, PA, aims to prevent sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) and accidental suffocation by following the safe sleep guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and providing training programs for healthcare team members and family caregivers at the highest available designation level.
As a Nationally Certified Safe Sleep Hospital, Mercer Health follows these guidelines and provides education to families on how to keep their infants safe while sleeping. Michael H. Goodstein, M.D., a neonatologist and medical director of research at Cribs for Kids, explains that sleep-related deaths (SRD) result in the loss of more than 3,500 infants every year in the U.S. He adds that modeling safe infant sleep in hospitals and providing education to families can significantly reduce these preventable deaths.
Ashley Piper, RN, OB Clinical Coordinator for the Childbirth Center at Mercer Health expressed pride in their efforts to join the national movement to reduce infant mortality. She stated that they have always been promoters of safe sleep and that the Cribs for Kids National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification is an important step in providing parents and caregivers with evidence-based information on how to ensure their babies sleep safely from day one.
For more information about the Cribs for Kids National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program, visit