A new report says Manitoba has made little progress in reducing the number of sleep-related infant deaths and must do more to help disadvantaged families.
The report from the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth says there were 48 sleep-related infant deaths over a three-year period ending in 2021.
This is approximately the same average annual rate found in a previous study that analyzed the period between 2009 and 2018.
Advocate Sherry Gott says things haven't changed despite government efforts to educate parents about safe sleep habits, such as placing babies on their backs in a safe space like a crib.
She says most cases occurred in overcrowded homes, 81% of children who died were Indigenous and a third of homes had no safe sleeping surface available.
The Lawyer's Office, an independent body accountable to the legislature, calls on the government to address social and economic inequalities in order to resolve the issue.
“Ultimately, this report demonstrates that the risks of sleep-related infant deaths arise not only from individual decisions, behaviors and practices, but also from the conditions of people's everyday lives and the broader set of factors and systems that shape them. ,” the report said. 61-page report released Thursday, it said.
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“Instead…it is the responsibility of the Manitoba government to ensure the equitable distribution of the social determinants of health so that every child can have an equal opportunity to survive and thrive, regardless of who they are, where they live or who their caregivers are. .”
The report states that several factors were commonly found in the deaths examined between 2019 and 2021. Half of the babies were not placed on their backs, which is recommended as the safest position. More than 80% were on an unsafe sleeping surface – many were in bed with family members. Nearly four in ten were in homes with environmental problems such as mold.
The report reiterates previous recommendations, such as improving data collection and raising public awareness about safe sleeping practices. Its only new recommendation is that the Manitoba government address social and economic inequities that can lead to higher-risk environments.
“While it remains critical to ensure that all caregivers and families are aware of and have access to the resources needed to mitigate risk factors, this approach alone has not been able to reduce the frequency of sleep-related infant deaths because it does too much little to face the problem. deep inequalities in the social determinants of health that underlie and perpetuate them”, states the report.
“There is no easy or quick solution – these are complex social and structural problems that require complex, long-term government solutions. This will be challenging, but not impossible.”
