Around 100 vulnerable Rotorua babies will benefit from a safe sleeping infant bed (pepi pod) thanks to the Rotorua Child Health Trust and Lakes District Health Board.

Chair of the trust, Community Paediatrician Dr Johan Morreau, is delighted the trust is able to fund such a valuable initiative.

Bay of Plenty babies will benefit from a Child Health Grant.

'Bed sharing is a major risk factor in preventable Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI), previously known as 'cot death”. The risk is increased further if a baby is also exposed to smoking, he adds.

'It's hugely important for infants to have a safe sleeping space at all times. The pepi pod and the safe sleeping programme provide babies with their own sleeping space and educates families on safe sleeping practices.”

Lakes DHB Safe Sleeping Co-ordinator and midwife Gwen Baars has championed the pepi pods and safe sleeping programme at Lakes DHB.

She is passionate about supporting parents to keep their babies safe because deaths from suffocation are preventable.

Gwen is very thankful for the $7,000 donation from the Rotorua Child Health Trust which means another 100 beds pods can be purchased.

A partnership in mid-2012 between Lakes DHB, Tipu Ora Charitable Trust and Mana Social Services enabled the first lot of pepi pods to be purchased and distributed in the community.

Gwen says babies are at risk of accidental asphyxiation when placed to sleep in unsafe sleeping environments (hazards from pillows, unsafe positioning, people in the same bed, loose covers, soft bedding or unsafe swaddling) and things that weaken a baby's drive to breathe (smoking in pregnancy, a low birth weight, being born prematurely, bottle fed or unwell).

'All babies need protecting from SUDI, in all the places they sleep and every time they sleep.”

Gwen says parents sleeping with their babies in the same bed is an unsafe sleeping option and the risk is increased dramatically if babies are exposed to smoking during pregnancy.

She says babies get less oxygen and nutrients while growing when exposed to a mother who smokes during pregnancy.

'This also weakens the drive to breathe and these babies have a weakened wake up response relative to other babies and are slow to respond to danger when oxygen levels reduce. Those who are born prematurely or with a low birth weight are additionally vulnerable

'It's essential families understand the risk factors involved when a baby is not sleeping in a safe environment and especially when there is alcohol, drugs or smoking anywhere near the baby.”