Members on both sides of the aisle said Wednesday that Connecticut hospital need to implement uniform guidelines to make sure infants sleep safely when they go home with their parents for the first time.
The Connecticut Senate voted 34-0 Wednesday, with two senators absent, to pass the Safe Sleep bill. The legislation now goes to the the House for further consideration.
"We all know that when a baby is born, they don’t come with an instruction manual, and as much as we may wish there was one, especially for the first child, there isn’t," said State Sen. Bob Duff, a Democrat from Norwalk.
Medical professionals say providing new parents with information as to how their babies should sleep is crucial.
Elizabeth Carey, a nurse manager at Hartford Hospital, says parents have to be careful.
"One of the most important things is that the baby be always placed on its back sleeping," Carey said.
While Hartford Hospital and many others have provided the information to families for years, lawmakers say it makes sense to approve a law that requires all state hospitals to disseminate the same information.
Local
"The issue is that we want it to be that standards are uniform, that parents and guardians are getting the same information at the hospital as they leave with their newborns," said Sen. Martin Looney, a Democrat from New Haven who serves as president pro tempore of the Connecticut Senate.
