Arana with her parents,
safe
and
close.
GOOD NEWS
(Data Source: Statistics NZ, Feb 2023
Infant mortality rates have fallen in New Zealand since 2010, especially for Māori, following a decade of little change.
The safe sleep efforts of many are making a difference.
Simply sleeping
Many innovations are costly, but not this one - the Pēpi-Pod® Programme. The programme has two parts: a simple baby bed and infant care education.
The baby bed is called a Pēpi-Pod® sleep space. It is just that, a place for a baby to sleep, wherever they happen to sleep. It comes with mattress and bedding, and is especially useful where families do not have beds for their babies, or when the beds they do have are not suitable or available.
The little bed itself is not the programme and is not supplied in isolation of the programme. The innovative aspect of the Pēpi-Pod® programme is the influential role that parents play in spreading education to family and friends; education about making it easy for babies to breathe. It is these peer conversations that are the power of the programme.
Now all regions of New Zealand have access to such support through government funding dedicated for this purpose.