All babies need safe sleeping devices

The Government should offer safe sleeping devices such as wahakura and pepi-pods to all new parents, not just a targeted few, the Green Party said today.

Today, the Government announced that safe sleeping devices will be provided to some families as part of a new plan to reduce deaths from Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI). The Green Party has campaigned for universal access to wahakura since 2014.

“We welcome National’s baby steps to provide some babies with a safe sleeping device such as a wahakura, but we encourage them to take bigger steps to make sure every new family gets a wahakura if they want one,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said.

“It’s a good step being announced today, but it won’t protect all the babies who need protecting because you can’t always predict which babies will need the help.

“Finland has been providing pepi-pods to all families who want them for 75 years now, and it is time for New Zealand to offer the same healthy and safe start to all of our children.

“Finland has seen its SUDI rates decline and babies lives saved.

“We want every single Kiwi kid to have a great start to life,” Mrs Turei said.

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