The news was numbing.
On that morning, Pierce, who was being watched by a baby-sitter, stopped breathing and was rushed to Atrium Medical Center, where he died.
The McKenzies joined a growing list of parents grieving the loss of an infant under the age of 1 who died from Sudden Infant Death (SIDS) or Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUIDS).
In Butler and Warren counties, there were no reported infant deaths blamed on SIDS or SUIDS in 2010, said Sheree Young, director of Atrium’s Protecting Infants Early Reduces Catastrophic Events Project.
But that number jumped to 11 deaths last year, including four during a three-month period. Young called the string of deaths “devastating” to the staff.
Of those, the cause of death was undetermined in six, one was an accidental drowning, one was born premature, and three were caused by unsafe sleep environments, Young said.
The American Journal of Public Health reported SUID data from 2005-2008, using 3,136 sleep related infant deaths that were sudden and unexpected. Seventy percent were on surfaces not intended for infant sleep and 64 percent were sharing a sleep surface and almost half were sleeping with an adult.
SIDS and other sudden unexpected infant sleep-related deaths - such as accidental suffocation, strangulation and entrapment - claim the lives of more than 4,600 babies a year, with the majority of these deaths occurring between the ages of 2 and 4 months, according to American Journal of Public Health.
Pierce’s death was ruled accidental and it was one of the unexplained infant deaths that occurred late last year that spurred a team of experts at Atrium to revamp its educational program concerning providing a safe infant sleep environment.
Young said the entire hospital staff and Middletown community have been “very aggressive” about reversing the trend through education.
She said that inconsistent modeling of infant sleep practices and lack of provision of educational materials and instruction in safe sleep modalities by hospital staff for parents, their families and other care givers may perpetuate unsafe sleep practices.
The purpose of the PIERCE Project — named in Pierce McKenzie’s memory — is to increase the development and implementation of evidence-based infant safe sleep practices at the hospital through staff training, policy development and parent education. In addition, the same components will be presented to community health care providers, child care providers and community groups.
Parents of newborns are being asked to complete a pledge card, which includes 13 recommendations to reduce the risk of SIDS and provide a safe infant sleep environment.
“We knew we had to do something to reverse that trend by aggressively promoting safe sleep practices,” said Saundra Pearce, nursing director at Atrium Medical Center.
Atrium began with intensive staff training to make sure everybody had consistent, accurate information on safe infant sleep practices, Pearce said. In early March, Atrium hosted one of three state-wide training workshops for health care workers, child care professionals and social workers in cooperation with the SIDS Network of Ohio and the Ohio Department of Health, and it is providing educational sessions and materials to physician offices, health departments, child care providers and day care centers.
More than 65 percent of sudden infant deaths occur in locations other than the child’s home or with caregivers other than a parent, Young said.
That’s what happened with Pierce McKenzie. He died while sleeping on fitted sheets and a firm mattress.
“We did everything right,” his mother said.
Randy McKenzie, a medic in the U.S. Air Force, called losing a son “the worst thing ever.”
His wife added: “It’s incredibly sad. We hurt for Parker. We have to live through this.”
Sarah and Randy McKenzie said they joined the Safe Sleep Initiative Team at Atrium as a way to honor their son’s memory, and hopefully keep other parents from experiencing what Sarah called “unbearable pain.”
They also attend monthly HEAL - Help Endure a Loss - meetings at the hospital. It’s comforting, they said, to circle themselves with other parents who have lost a child. They said some of their friends just don’t understand.
That’s why Randy McKenzie said some of their “friends have become strangers and strangers have become friends.”
At the meetings, he said, he feels safe expressing his feelings. It’s OK to cry.
“They don’t judge me,” he said. “It’s like a club, a club that nobody wants to belong to.”
When the McKenzies were asked if Pierce’s picture could be used on posters and brochures, they never hesitated.
“We don’t want anybody to forget who he is,” she said, grabbing a Tissue. “We want people to hear his name.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.
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