Infant Mortality Resources

General Information

• Safe to Sleep^® (formerly Back to Sleep)
  This public education campaign, led by NICHD, aims to educate parents, caregivers, and healthcare providers about ways to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related causes of infant death.
  • What Does a Safe Sleep Environment Look Like?
    Use this interactive tool to learn how to create a safe infant sleep environment.
  • NICHD publications related to safe infant sleep
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  The CDC is the United States’ health protection agency, conducting science and providing health information in order to prevent and respond to health threats. The CDC monitors U.S. infant mortality rates and carries out research and educational programs to prevent it.
  • Infant Mortality
    This site includes data on infant mortality and resources for parents on reducing the risk of the most common causes of death.
  • Injuries Among Children and Teens
    This resource describes how parents can help keep children safe from accidental injury.
• March of Dimes
  This organization works to help mothers have full-term pregnancies and researches threats to infants’ health.
  • Neonatal Death
• Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC)
  The CPSC is a federal organization charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of consumer products, including cribs and other products for infants.
  • Safe Sleep – Cribs and Infant Products
    This page offers information about crib safety standards and how to create safe infant sleeping environments.
  • Recalls
    Here, consumers can learn which products have been recalled for safety reasons.

Services, Resources, and Support

• First Candle
  This nonprofit organization comprises parents, caregivers, researchers, and government, business, and community service groups that are working together to advance infant health and survival. The website provides resources for families who have lost an infant, including a grief counseling phone line.
• The Compassionate Friends
  The Compassionate Friends is a support organization of and for families who have lost a child.
• National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Library Gateway on Sudden Unexpected Infant Death and SIDS
  This website offers bereavement support resources to help those who are affected by the sudden, unexpected loss of a child or a pregnancy.
  • Featured Resources for Families, Friends, and Children
• Share Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support, Inc.
  This organization supports families who are grieving the loss of an infant or a pregnancy.
• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
  HRSA’s mission is to improve access to healthcare services. As part of this mission, it provides health-related information and resources to consumers, including resources on grief related to the loss of an infant.
  • The Death of a Child. The Grief of the Parents: A Lifetime Journey (PDF 515 KB)
  • Grieving Child: Helping Children Cope When an Infant Dies. Second Edition (PDF 765 KB)

Please note: Links to organizations and information included on this page do not indicate endorsement from NICHD, NIH, or HHS.

Resources for Researchers

Infant Mortality Research at NICHD

• Safe to Sleep^®: The Science of Safe Infant Sleep
• NICHD research on SIDS and on Stillbirth
• Division of Extramural Research
  • Developmental Biology and Congenital Anomalies Branch
  • Maternal and Pediatric Infectious Disease Branch
  • Pediatric Growth and Nutrition Branch
  • Pediatric Trauma and Critical Illness Branch
  • Population Dynamics Branch
  • Pregnancy and Perinatology Branch
    • Collaborative Home Infant Monitoring Evaluation (CHIME) and National Infant Sleep Position (NISP) Study
      These NICHD-supported studies gathered data on infant sleep and infant sleep practices. The data from these studies are now available to researchers for additional analyses.
    • Neonatal Research Network
    • Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network
• Division of Population Health Research: Epidemiology Branch
• Division of Intramural Research: Maternal-Fetal Medicine & Translational Imaging

Other Research Resources

• World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Observatory: Infant Mortality
  This site offers WHO data and reports on infant mortality.
• Helping Babies Breathe^®
  This neonatal resuscitation curriculum for resource-limited circumstances is an initiative of the American Academy of Pediatrics and many partners, including NICHD, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and several not-for-profit organizations. The curriculum was developed with input from the WHO. The initial steps taught in HBB can save lives and give a much better start to many babies who struggle to breathe at birth.

Resources for Healthcare Providers

• National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Library

  • Featured Resources for Providers
  • Infant Mortality Toolkit

  This website offers bereavement support resources to help those who are affected by the sudden, unexpected loss of a child or a pregnancy and resources for a public health approach to infant mortality.

• Safe to Sleep^® Campaign
  The Safe to Sleep^® campaign builds on the successes of Back to Sleep to address SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death and to continue spreading safe sleep messages to members of all communities.
  • Continuing Education (CE) Programs on SIDS Risk Reduction
    NICHD and its partners developed these free CE programs on SIDS risk reduction for nurses and for pharmacists.
    • Curriculum for Nurses
      Nurses who complete the course will receive 1.1 CE credit hours from the Maryland Nurses Association.
  • Infant Sleep Position and SIDS: Questions and Answers for Healthcare Providers
    This booklet answers some of the more common questions about sleep position, safe sleep environment, and SIDS and describes some NICHD-supported research on the topic.
  • The Science of SIDS and Safe Infant Sleep
    This page discusses research supported by NICHD and other organizations that has led to our current understanding of SIDS.
  • Building Relationships with Trusted Community Members
    This page describes campaign activities to build relationships with intermediaries who can teach their communities about safe infant sleep.
• World Association of Perinatal Medicine: Neonatal Guidelines (PDF 4.13 MB)
  This international non-profit organization of groups and individuals works to promote the science of perinatal medicine. It has collected these neonatal care guidelines for the benefit of providers around the world.
• MCH Library at Georgetown University: Infant Mortality and Pregnancy Loss Knowledge Path
  These recent, high-quality resources on infant mortality and pregnancy loss analyze data, report on research aimed at identifying causes and promising intervention strategies, and describe risk-reduction efforts as well as bereavement-support programs.
• Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP): Women’s and Infant Health program
  The AMCHP is an organization of healthcare leaders in state government working towards healthier communities. This page introduces AMCHP’s activities on the topic of infant mortality and links to specific focus areas and additional resources.

General Resources

• Infant Mortality: What is CDC Doing?
  This site describes the CDC’s research, programs, and efforts to better understand and reduce infant mortality.
• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
  HRSA’s mission is to improve access to healthcare services. As part of this mission, it advises and supports efforts to reduce infant mortality in the United States.
  • Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality
    The committee advises the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on departmental programs that are directed at reducing infant mortality and improving the health status of pregnant women and infants. The committee also provides advice on how best to coordinate federal, state, local, and private efforts that have an impact on infant mortality.
• The National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention
  This federal resource for state and local child death review programs promotes, supports, and enhances child death review methodology and activities.

Please note: Links to organizations and information included on this page do not indicate endorsement from NICHD, NIH, or HHS.