Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) Prevention Program

The SUID Prevention Program aims to reduce the overall rates of SUID and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in SUID. This will be achieved through the following goals:

• Identify best practices in safe infant sleep and SUID prevention through a national coalition with broad representation of diverse partners.
• Increase pediatric providers’ awareness, understanding and use of child death review (CDR) and fetal and infant mortality review (FIMR) team data, findings and recommendations.
• Provide tools and resources for providers to engage and educate infant caregivers and families to create a safe sleep environment in families and communities.

The Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) Prevention Program consists of three main components: the convening of the National Collaborative for Safe Infant Sleep, Child Death Review (CDR) and Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) promotion and education as well as safe infant sleep resource development. 

We have partnered with the National Institute of Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ), the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention (National Center) and Sharp Insight, LLC on this program to improve our program outcomes and expand our reach to audiences. 

Child Death Review (CDR) and Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Promotion and Education

The SUID Prevention Program has partnered with the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention to further establish relationships between AAP chapters and physicians with state and/or local CDR and FIMR teams.

To accomplish this, the SUID Prevention Program will offer the following:

• A unique learning opportunity, the CDR and FIMR Mentorship Program, will be launching in Fall 2023 for pediatricians interested in establishing or improving their fatality review skill set and making connections with pediatricians. The program is a self-paced voluntary 6-month mentorship program where mentees will be paired with a mentor based on their interest area. Interested parties can register for the program here. 
• Ongoing educational opportunities and technical assistance trainings with the AAP and the NCFRP on data dashboards and how to utilize CDR and FIMR data in practice.

SUID Prevention Program Resource Development and Education

The SUID Prevention Program will be creating new resources and updating existing resources to better serve and inform physicians, other healthcare professionals, families and caregivers, and communities to improve the rates of SUID. In addition to the creation of these materials, the AAP will offer a robust learning curriculum to educate on safe infant sleep best practices and prevention strategies.