Hackensack Hospital Working To Draw Attention To SIDS

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Center of New Jersey, based at Hackensack University Medical Center, has worked with Rutgers' Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick to get a renewed proclamation from the governor to call attention to the public health problem.

Hackensack University Medical Center is working with Rutgers' Robert Wood Medical School to educate the public about sudden infant death syndrome.
Photo Credit: *Hackensack University Medical Center*

Amy Maciaszek

01/05/2016 4:00 a.m.

Drawing attention to sudden infant death sydrome and ways to prevent it is one of the things the SIDS Center of New Jersey works on in an effort to educate the public. The center, based in the Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital, also works with national organizations to prevent infant mortality.

“I would like to commend the SIDS Center of New Jersey team for obtaining this proclamation,” said Jeffrey Boscamp, vice president and chief academic officer at Hackensack University Medical Center. “It draws renewed attention to the critical goal of decreasing sudden infant deaths.”

The SIDS Center of New Jersey also provides emotional support for bereaved families.

Its main goal is to share safe sleep practices with families and caregivers, which means warning against putting infants to sleep on their stomachs.

“The hardest thing to change is human behavior,” said Barbara Ostfeld, program director of the center and a professor in the department of pediatrics at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

“We have seen a decline over time in New Jersey, where the sudden unexpected infant death rate is among the lowest in the nation,” Ostfeld added. “We all want the same thing -- we want good outcomes for infants and their families.”

The SIDS Center of New Jersey’s statewide hotline is available 24/7 by calling (800) 545-7437.

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