Orlando Health South Lake Hospital Recognized for Commitment to Reducing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Clermont, FL (June 29, 2022) – Orlando Health South Lake Hospital has received the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Silver for implementing hospital-wide best practices and educating parents and caregivers on sleep safety to help prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). A recognition conferred by Cribs for Kids, a national organization that advocates for the standardization of safe sleep practices in alignment with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines, the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification confers recognitions at a bronze, silver and gold level.

Sleep-related death results in the loss of more than 3,500 infants every year in the United States. In 2020, there were 59 recorded sleep-related deaths in Florida, two of which occurred in Lake County. A recent study by the AAP continues to reiterate that practices like decorating cribs with blankets and toys or sleeping on the same surface with an infant, such as a couch or bed, increase the risk of SIDS. The Academy encourages caregivers to always use a firm, flat mattress, and place baby on his or her back during sleep to provide further protection.

“The loss of an infant due to SIDS is a tragedy that, in many cases, can be prevented by using safe sleeping practices at home,” said Nancy Drenning, Orlando Health South Lake maternal education consultant. “We’re committed to the health and wellness of our smallest patients even after they leave the hospital. Increasing the likelihood that babies born at our Center for Women’s Health also have a safe sleeping environment once they are discharged will further help to protect infants and reduce the loss of life.”

Cribs for Kids was founded in 1998 to help address the large number of SIDS cases in the United States. The organization focused primarily on educating mothers and families on safe sleep practices while also providing safer cribs for families in need. Today, hospitals that receive a Safe Sleep designation are evaluated on nine requirements which include implementing a hospital-wide safe sleep protocol for infants and providing safe sleep education to caregivers and families of babies less than one year old. Orlando Health South Lake is one of only two hospitals in Central Florida to have this designation.

About Orlando Health

Orlando Health, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $8 billion of assets under management that serves the southeastern United States.

Founded more than 100 years ago, the healthcare system is recognized around the world for Central Florida’s only pediatric and adult Level One Trauma program as well as the only state-accredited Level Two Adult Trauma Center in the St. Petersburg region. It is the home of the nation’s largest neonatal intensive care unit under one roof, the only system in the southeast to offer open fetal surgery to repair the most severe forms of spina bifida, the site of an Olympic athlete training facility and operator of one of the largest and highest performing clinically integrated networks in the region. Orlando Health has pioneered life-changing medical research and its Graduate Medical Education program hosts more than 350 residents and fellows. The 3,200-bed system includes 10 award-winning hospitals, 9 hospital based ERs, and 7 free-standing emergency rooms; rehabilitation services, cancer and heart institutes, imaging and laboratory services, wound care centers, physician offices for adults and pediatrics, skilled nursing facilities, an in-patient behavioral health facility, home healthcare services in partnership with LHC Group, and urgent care centers in partnership with FastMed Urgent Care. More than 4,200 physicians, representing more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties have privileges across the Orlando Health system, which employs more than 23,000 team members. In FY21, Orlando Health served more than 160,000 inpatients and 3.6 million outpatients. During that same time period, Orlando Health provided approximately $648 million in total value to the communities it serves in the form of charity care, community benefit programs and services, community building activities and more. Additional information can be found at http://www.orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @orlandohealth.