Safety Alert - Nappy Sacks Pose a Suffocation & Choking Hazard
Especially to Very Young Babies!
NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly are calling for the support of children’s workforce professionals to help raise awareness of the dangers posed by nappy sacks following the deaths of two local babies since 2005 from asphyxia from nappy sacks. The counties Child Accident Prevention Co-ordinator said: “We were shocked to learn about the tragic circumstances in which these babies died so immediately set about gathering information to inform a campaign. Sadly, this fact-finding exercise highlighted nappy sacks had caused at least 7-9 baby deaths in England alone, none of which had come to the attention of the national accident prevention bodies.
The two nappy sack tragedies in Cornwall involved the nappy sacks being stored under the babies’ mattresses. From the information gathered, there appears to be common themes running throughout the incidents: - they involved very young babies (under 6 mths) who at this stage of development are able to pull things to their month, but are not able to let go of objects or free themselves easily.
- the nappy sacks were stored under the babies’ mattresses / left within their reach.
Parents and carers are generally aware of the dangers posed by plastic bags, but may not make the link to nappy sacks posing the same sort of risks. Nappy sacks are made of a much more flimsy material that can be easily breathed in by young babies, and are much smaller so can be easily scrunched down the side of a cot or sofa and forgotten about. They also do not rustle in the same way as plastic bags nor is there a safety warning on individual sacks – so nappy sacks do not have the constant safety reminder provided by the plastic bags commonly found in families’ homes. NHS CIOS wanted to alert parents to this danger so developed a safety warning which was sent to over 11,500 local families with a child under 2 years. However, it's not just parents and carers that need to be alerted to these risks - grandparents and childminders are also a key target group. Longer-term, they are looking to influence the redesign of local ante-natal parenting classes, include safety advice on nappy sacks in a new pregnancy booklet and influence plastic packaging safety guidelines. The safety warning can be downloaded via the following link http://www.injuryobservatory.net/documents/child_safety_advice_nhs_choking.doc. If you are aware of similar incidents in your area or would like further information, please email beth.beynon@ciospct.cornwall.nhs.uk |
