Sleep box program aims to reduce infant deaths

Wrangell's Public Health Office will be participating in a wider effort to reduce infant mortality in Alaska. Spearheaded by PeaceHealth Ketchikan, the "Little Alaskan Dream Box" project distributes special sleeping boxes and postnatal care items to new mothers.

The sudden death of seven Alaskan infants in July 2014 highlighted a statewide problem. Alaska has an infant mortality rate about one-and-a-half times higher than the national average. Of the 195 infant deaths reported in the state between 2012 and 2014, 66 of these occurred in a sleep environment.

A recent study conducted by the state...