Parents get free thermometers for babies' rooms

Keeping the room where babies sleep at 16-20 degrees Celsius is one factor that can help prevent SIDS

New mums and dads are being given free thermometers for their babies' rooms as part of a campaign to raise awareness of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

SIDS, a rare phenomenon sometimes known as cot death, is the sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy baby.

Black Country parents and carers are being given the thermometers to remind them 16-20C (60.8-68F) is an ideal temperature for where babies sleep, and this can help prevent SIDS.

The project is part of a campaign called Safer Sleep Week run by the Lullaby Trust, a charity that offers safe sleep advice to parents and caregivers.

The Health in Pregnancy Service at Walsall Healthcare NHS trust is giving out the thermometers, and The Black Country Integrated Care Board, a local NHS body, is supporting the project.

Parents from Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Sandwell should have access to the thermometers, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said.

It added the Black Country Local Maternity and Neonatal System and the Black Country Child Death Review Strategic Partnership were supporting the initiative.

Taylor-Jane Daley, a Walsall mum of two whose youngest daughter was born on 25 January, said she was grateful to be given a thermometer.

"I don't think you realise quite how warm a room has become sometimes," she said in a statement released by the care board.

"We all want to do what we can to keep our babies safe."

The NHS also advises that babies sleep on their backs on a firm mattress, along with other safety measures, in order to reduce the risk of SIDS.

The Safer Sleep Week campaign runs until Sunday.