1. Using Data to Prevent Sleep-Related Infant Deaths in
Baltimore City
Samantha Sileno, B.S.
Public Health Associate
Baltimore City Health Department
Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2015 PHAP/PHPS Summer Seminar
June 2, 2015
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support

2. Presentation Overview
 Personal Background and PHAP Host Site
 Infant Mortality in Baltimore City
 B’more for Healthy Babies
 Safe Sleep Profile
 Results
 Barriers and Lessons Learned

3. Personal Background and PHAP Host Site
 Education
• Bachelor of Science- Health Education,
University of Florida Class of 2014
o Focus on Community Health
 Host Site
• Baltimore City Health Department,
Bureau of Maternal and Child Health
• Year 1 Assignment: Fetal-Infant
Mortality Review and Child Fatality
Review
o Maintain and Expand Safe Sleep Profile

4. Baltimore City, Maryland
 622,000 residents
 81 sq. miles
 64% of the population
are African American
 1/3 of households
live below the
poverty line and have
an income less than
$25,000/year
*Census Bureau

5. Baltimore City: High Infant Mortality & Health
Disparities in 2009
 Baltimore City had the highest rate of infant death in
Maryland and the 4th worst infant mortality rate in the U.S.
 Infant Mortality Rate of 13.5 per 1,000 live births
 127 infants died in Baltimore City
 African American infants were 5x more likely to die than
white infants
 20% of infant deaths were attributable to unsafe sleep
practices
*Maryland Vital Statistics

6. Formation of B’more for Healthy Babies (BHB)
 Innovative citywide initiative launched in 2009 to improve
birth outcomes
 Strong emphasis on coordination of efforts, evidence-based
interventions, and coalition-building
 Baltimore City Health Department creates the Safe Sleep
Profile to provide data to the initiative
*Maryland Vital Statistics

7. Safe Sleep Profile
 Data set of all sleep-related infant deaths that occur in
Baltimore City
 Contains 15 variables that are used to help plan
interventions and target media campaigns each year on safe
sleep
 Sleep environment characteristics
 These data are obtained from medical records, infant death-
scene investigation reports from the medical examiner’s
office, and child fatality reviews

8. Safe Sleep Data

9. Sleep-Related Infant Deaths in Baltimore City
2000-2014 (N=274)

10. Safe Sleep Data

11. Safe Sleep Data

12. Safe Sleep Data

13. Results
 SLEEP SAFE Campaign :
Alone, Back, Crib, No
Exceptions is launched in
2010
 B’more for Healthy Babies used the Profile to implement
new tobacco initiatives, train 4,000 providers and
produced 4 targeted SLEEP SAFE videos.
• SRID infant mortality rate (IMR) decreased from 2.8 in 2009 to 1.9 in
2013. The drop in SRIDs was reflected in the 2013 IMR (6.6) for
Maryland.
 http://healthybabiesbaltimore.com/

14. Barriers and Lessons Learned
 Incorrect or missing information may compromise the
usefulness of the Profile and my host site is working to
standardize reporting protocols to improve data quality.
 A robust Safe Sleep Profile is essential to develop targeted
messaging in order to inform an effective, dynamic safe
sleep campaign. Strong accountability for agencies and other
partners to contribute data to the profile must be
established

15. For more information, please contact CDC’s Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support
4770 Buford Highway NE, Mailstop E-70, Atlanta, GA 30341
Telephone: 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636)/TTY: 1-888-232-6348
E-mail: OSTLTSfeedback@cdc.gov Web: http://www.cdc.gov/stltpublichealth
The findings and conclusions in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Questions?
Contact:
Samantha Sileno
ypl0@cdc.gov
samantha.sileno@baltimorecity.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support