NICU babies sleeping with HALOs

MUNSTER | Nurse educators at Community Hospital are raising greater community awareness of Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths because of caring parents Kim and Phillip Splant and a contribution from the Nathan C. Splant Foundation.

A $2,500 donation from the Splant Foundation will help spread the message of safe sleep practices and provide HALO® SleepSacksTM for babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Community Hospital, where the Splant's son, Nathan, was born prematurely, weighing only 1 lb., 9 oz.

"We're taking this opportunity to give back," said dad Phillip Splant, of St. John. "We hope that others will benefit from our story - our miracle."

Hospital nurses first sprang into action after discovering a sobering statistic - in 2009, Lake County recorded the highest number of Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths in the state.

SUIDs, for the most part, are preventable and are a result of unsafe sleep practices, according to First Candle, one of the nation's leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the survival of babies through the first years of life. First Candle recommends a wearable blanket, called a HALO® SleepSackTM to help reduce risk factors associated with SUIDs and replace loose blankets in a crib.

Neonatal nurse clinician Mary Puntillo has been helping spread the message of "baby ‘Back' to Sleep; By Myself; in a Naked Crib" in the hospital's nurseries and in classes offered to the public.

"Safe sleep practices are taught from the get go," Puntillo said. "And we're teaching it in our communities with Taking Care of Baby and Grandparent classes," she said.

Today, Nathan Splant is a healthy, happy 8-year old. "Our family couldn't have done it without the dedication and compassion of all those involved with Nathan's recovery - the doctors, nurses, therapists and special program aides," mom Kim Splant said.

In appreciation, the Splant family returns to Community Hospital to make special deliveries on behalf of the Nathan C. Splant Foundation, the organization the family founded to honor their son and give back to others.

For more information on the foundation, visit ncsplantfoundation.org.

To register for upcoming Taking Care of Baby or Today's New Grandparent classes offered through the hospitals of Community Healthcare System, call (219) 836-3477 or toll-free (866) 836-3477 or visit www.comhs.org/community/classes.asp.