Today is National Safe Sleep Day – Te Rā Mokopuna. It is
a time to raise awareness of the impact of SUDI on whānau
in Aotearoa, and to advocate for best practice prevention
activities.
The SUDI Prevention Coordination Service
at Hāpai Te Hauora tracks national trends in the known risk
factors for, and incidence of SUDI.
“What we have seen
in the last year is persistent inequities for Māori both in
the experience of SUDI and the prevalence of risk factors
among whānau Māori,” says Selah Hart, Chief Executive
Officer of Hāpai Te Hauora. “While it is promising to see a
decrease in smoking rates among wahine hapū (pregnant
women), the underlying structural issues for our whānau
remain. Until food and housing insecurity and other
consequences of poverty and social inequality are addressed,
it’s unlikely we will see a meaningful decrease in smoking
rates and other sequelae of deprivation such as
SUDI.”
“We’re deeply concerned about the impact of
the increasingly fraught national economic situation, with
the rising cost of living and the predictions of a
recession, in this context. We can’t lose sight of those
who are likely to suffer the most in an economic downturn;
our tamariki mokopuna.”
The SUDI Prevention
Coordination Service provides engagement, communications and
workforce development nationwide to local SUDI prevention
coordinators. Fay Selby-Law, General Manager – SUDI
Prevention notes progress in the development of cultural
safety among the clinical workforce but emphasizes that
there is more work to be done.
“We still do not have a
workforce with a depth of knowledge of te ao Māori and the
ability to use this knowledge to support whānau in SUDI
prevention. There is a direct link between this deficit, and
the huge inequities for Māori in the experience of SUDI. We
have seen the benefit of community-led responses in SUDI
prevention, but there are still insufficient resources
available for communities to take ownership of this mahi. We
strongly recommend more focus on building a culturally safe
workforce and empowering community to lead this
work.”
What is National Safe Sleep Day?
The aim
of National Safe Sleep Day – Te Rā Mokopuna is to raise
awareness about Sudden Unexpected Death in Infants (SUDI),
with the vision of reducing the rate in which it occurs in
our New Zealand families and communities. SUDI is
preventable, and the risk factors for our babies can be
significantly reduced should the rights steps be
implemented.
What is the SUDI Prevention Coordination
Service?
Hāpai is responsible for coordinating a
national, integrated approach to SUDI prevention in
Aotearoa. Our whakapapa as a Māori public health
organisation over 25 years drives our philosophy which
places health and wellbeing of tamariki mokopuna and whānau
at the centre of everything we do.
Our goal is to
reduce the incidence of SUDI in Aotearoa across all our
communities to 0.1 in 1000 liveborn infants by 2025. To
achieve this we work with local coordinators and national
experts to promote best practice solutions which sit
alongside complementary health targets like Smokefree
2025.
Visit https://sudinationalcoordination.co.nz/
for resources, research and upcoming
events.
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