Editorial: Ministry gets it wrong over baby safety

A one-month-old baby in a wahakura. Every year 40 NZ babies die unexpectedly in their sleep, some smothered or suffocated when co-sleeping with parents.

THE decision by the Ministry of Health not to fund pepi-pods doesn't seem right.

Arguing that the worth of the pods in saving babies has not been proven, it shelved plans to supply the pods - or wahakura - to the most at-risk babies in New Zealand.

And minister Jonathan Coleman has agreed with the decision, saying the evidence that the pods helped save infants doesn't stack up.

That seems contrary to the view of Auckland University Professor of Child Health Research Ed Mitchell.

An Auckland University study has assessed the Safe Sleep programme which had been running in parts of the country since 2009. It includes the use of pepi-pods.

"We are quite convinced that they are actually saving lives," Professor Mitchell has said.
"... the mortality rate has come down and it can be attributed to the Safe Sleep programme and the wahakura or pepi-pod."

The pepi-pods are a reasonably cheap, simple and culturally aware answer to some of the issues around keeping babies safe and close to their parents.

The responsibility for supplying the pepi-pods in Whanganui belongs to the Whanganui Regional Health Network.

Whanganui has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country and has a vital interest in the distribution of what an expert in the field of infant mortality calls "life saving".

And evidence seems to suggest the New Zealand developed pepi-pod is a lifesaver beyond this country.

An Australian who has worked in the area of sudden infant death for 25 years, Professor Jeanine Young of the Sunshine Coast University, now helps give pepi-pods to at-risk Aboriginal families in Queensland.

Though it will be several years before the expected drop in infant mortality in Australia, she said the four years of data showing a reduced infant mortality was enough for her.

Funding for continued use of the pod in New Zealand should be a no-brainer.
It's difficult to disagree with the experts ... unless, of course, you are the Ministry of Health.