DECATUR - Customary warnings to reduce the risk of suffocation have not kept infants from dying.

Macon County Coroner Michael E. Day said four of five infant deaths investigated by his office since Jan. 1 involved sleeping behaviors health care professionals advise against. In three cases, a larger person had been sleeping with the baby, and in the fourth, the child had been left in a baby swing overnight.

At least three of the babies were rushed to Decatur Memorial Hospital, where medical personnel learned that the one found in a crib had been living with a mother and other family members who smoked. Exposure to smoking during pregnancy and after birth increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Dr. Martin Okpalike said these cases of SIDS or other sudden unexplained infant deaths that he's seen since becoming medical director of the hospital's pediatric hospitalist program in February were his first.

"I never saw any during three years of residency and one year of practice in New Jersey," Okapalike said.

As a result, the Community Benefit Committee of DMH is bringing the co-executive directors of Sudden Infant Death Services of Illinois to Decatur next week to educate parents, other caregivers, social workers and health care professionals about the safest way to put babies down to sleep.

"You don't overdress them, and you put them on their back every time in a safe crib," said Nancy Maruyama, executive director of education and community outreach for SIDS of Illinois, "and all you want in that crib is the mattress, fitted sheet and the baby."

Events will include community baby showers for new parents and parents-to-be and educational seminars for the public and professionals, with the Decatur Memorial Foundation covering some of the costs.

Melanie Brown, senior development officer for the foundation, said she hopes to follow up with a fundraiser in the spring so each baby born at Decatur Memorial Hospital or St. Mary's Hospital can go home with a free "Back to Sleep" onesie and a sleep sack parents can put on their children instead of covering them with a blanket.

"New parents often don't have time to read a brochure," Brown said. "These would be easy reminders."

Shower attendees will have a chance to win a portable crib and also take home several goodies, including bibs donated by the Macon County Health Department and medicine spouts from child care providers.

Brown's mother, Carol Carlton is a child care nurse consultant for Healthy Childcare Illinois, a collaboration between the health department and Child Care Resource Service. She has helped arrange for members of the Decatur Area Family Child Care Association and the Mid-Central Chapter of the Illinois Association for the Education of Young Children to attend one of the seminars.

Carlton said training in this area is particularly critical for home child care providers because of more specific prohibitions against unsafe sleep practices added this summer to Department of Children and Family Services licensing regulations.

These include rules against putting infants to sleep on a sofa, soft mattress, car seat or swing and that infants should be placed on their stomachs part of the time when they are awake and be observed at all times during "tummy time."

Teresa Gulley, director of maternal child care at St. Mary's Hospital, said she is excited to be part of the education initiative. "It's a serious issue, and we're glad to help get the information out," she said.

Pam Borchardt, executive director of operations and bereavement for SIDS of Illinois, said the state improved its ranking for infant mortality, going from 47th in 1980 to 20th in 2002, but has slipped a bit in recent years, to 28th in 2006.

Maruyama said the number of SIDS deaths has declined in Illinois by 68 percent since 1993 but is experiencing an increase lately in the number of babies dying in unsafe sleep settings.

That's also what Day has seen in Macon County, and he wants to put a stop to it.

"The practice of putting infants in bed with adults and older siblings seems to transcend all socioeconomic lines," he said. "These are not cases of people intentionally doing something wrong, but it's important for them to be aware of how potentially dangerous co-sleeping is."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Free Community Baby Showers to educate expectant parents, parents of children 4 months or younger and significant others about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

WHEN: 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, at St. Mary's Hospital and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, at Decatur Memorial Hospital

TO REGISTER: Contact Melanie Brown at mbrown@dmhhs.org or 876-2108.

If you go

WHAT: Free Safe Sleep-Safe Crib Seminars at Decatur Memorial Hospital (continuing education credits available)

TIMES: - 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, for child care providers, parents and the public

- 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, for health care professional, social workers and case managers

- 9 to 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24, for health care professionals, social workers and case managers

TO REGISTER: For Tuesday session, call 1-800-325-5516, option 2; for all others, contact Carol Carlton at ccarlton@illinois.edu or 433-4034 or Melanie Brown at mbrown@dmhhs.org or 876-2108.

tchurchill@herald-review.com|421-7978