This holiday season make every sleep for baby a safe sleep
As the holiday season
approaches, families are
more likely to be on
the move.
PLACE baby in his or her own bed,
if co-sleeping is desired, consider
placing baby safely in a wahakura
(woven bassinet for infants) or pepi
pod. Face clear of loose bedding and
NO pillows, hats, bibs and soft toys.
It is important that those with
babies always have a safe place
for baby to sleep. Relying on a
makeshift bed while on holiday
poses risk of suffocation for babies
in the first year of life, so planning
ahead to always have a safe sleep
environment will help protect babies
from suffocation. ELIMINATE exposure to smoking,
alcohol and drug use, and have a
smokefree family, home and car.
The wider whānau can also provide
support to mum by also becoming
smokefree.
To keep babies safe during sleep,
always follow these simple rules: ENCOURAGE and support Mum to
breastfeed so baby will be strong.
For Natasha having a wahakura
for Keanu has made things so easy,
especially as he was born four weeks
early. “He needed to be fed more often
and needed a bit more closer monitoring
once we got home from hospital. The
wahakura allowed me to have Keanu
sleeping in the lounge during the day,
and I had the wahakura in bed with me
at night time so that I could have him
close to me, which has really helped with
bonding and breastfeeding.”
Mum Natasha Cunningham
watches over her baby son
Keanu, safely resting in his
wahakura.
POSITION baby flat and on the back
as their drive to breathe is best this
way.
Young donor’s parents urge people
to talk about organ donation
The parents of a young mum whose
life was cut tragically short say organ
donation has helped cast a positive
light on a dark period of their lives.
Hori and Lovey Ahomiro are now urging people
to have the organ donation conversation with their
whānau and decide if it’s right for them.
Ngawari Charlene Ahomiro was a fit and healthy
mother-of-two when, aged just 29, she was struck
down by a brain aneurysm.
“She was athletic,” says Nga’s mum Lovey. “She
would run up the Mount like it was just a trot up a hill.
She played all the sports, had just started rugby and
was loving it.”
Two years ago though, Nga suffered the brain
aneurysm that would end her life.
“She was rushed to the hospital but she was already
gone,” says Lovey. “She went quickly.”
It was then that the importance of a recent
conversation revealed itself.
“One of our whānau members had needed a liver,”
says Nga’s dad Hori. “The family had all seen if they
were compatible but they weren’t and eventually he
received the organ from Canberra. But it had got us
talking about organ donation; Nga, ourselves and our
four other children. We had the conversation and Nga
said she would like to be a donor. That opened the
door really.”
That conversation meant when the time came to
decide on whether to donate Nga’s organs, “it wasn’t
a difficult conversation”, says Lovey, who is talking
after the recent Organ Donation New Zealand Thank
You Day 2018 (a day of appreciation of organ and
tissue donors and their families).
“The consultant spoke with Hori and I first. We
agreed, as she’d said she wanted to be a donor, but
we needed to ask Nga’s siblings as well. They were all
in agreeance.”
However, not everyone in the Ahomiro whānau was
as accepting.
“My father hit the roof,” says Lovey. “He was from
that tikanga traditional background and his belief was
what you come into the world with, you go out with.
“We tried to explain to him that she was just a shell
at this time and it was her wairua that we wanted
to keep alive. He was not happy but fortunately my
mum had a long talk with him that night and brought
him round. He came back into the hospital the next
morning and I just hugged him.”
She says her mum lives in Te Poi, so
when she goes to visit she takes Keanu’s
wahakura too. “Keanu can sleep in a
familiar space and I know that he is
going to be safe.”
Safe hands
Holiday season is ‘party season’ as friends and families celebrate
and have fun together. It is important those with babies always have
a safe, sober caregiver or babysitter with ‘Safe Hands.’
Safe Hands will:
• Handle babies gently
• Always place babies flat and on the back for sleep
• Never expose babies to smoking, alcohol or drugs
• Do safety checks of babies beds and remove pillows, loose wraps
and soft toys
• Stay close and respond to babies needs for food, comfort and
Cool to Move
The Ahomiro whānau at Maungatapu Marae. From left,
Te Mahi Luke Ahomiro, Te Rehutaimoana Ahomiro-Stewart,
and Lovey and Hori Ahomiro.
The family is grateful for the time and space they
were given by Tauranga Hospital staff to make
their decision.
“The support we had in the hospital at the time was
amazing and very respectful,” says Hori. “There was no
rush, no pressure, we had the time and the space to think
about our decision. It was very compassionate care.”
Hori and Lovey later learned that four people’s
lives had changed forever because of Nga’s decision
to donate.
“I think the one which really got me was that a part
of her liver helped a young boy,” says Lovey. “That
mum got her baby back and that’s wonderful. You
can imagine she would’ve been on the brink, hoping
and praying for something to help her boy. That was a
really big positive for me.”
Knowing Nga helped others live has softened the
blow somewhat because it means her passing was not
in vain adds Lovey.
“It was a big ask for us traditionally we went right
against the grain as far as that was concerned,”
she says. “But we made that decision and we’re
comfortable with it. There was some negative
feedback at the time but there’s been a lot more
positive since. During Nga’s short stay in hospital so
many people that visited, or were touched by her story,
changed their minds about organ donation. It made
a lot of people have second thoughts, especially our
Māori people.
“At the end of the day that’s all you can ask, that
people have an honest conversation about it, consider
it, talk it through. Organ donation may or may not be
right for you in your situation, but at least talk about it.”
The Tauranga couple are clear in their views.
“Organ donation means others get a second chance
at life. And there’s no greater gift than that,” says Hori.
• Holidays are spent outdoors and travelling to our favourite places.
Always check that babies travel in a safety approved carseat that
is correctly fitted in the vehicle. Covered carseats, and prams
or strollers where babies lie to sleep can heat up quickly when
outdoors. For babies, this can cause overheating, reduced airflow
and make it difficult for them to breathe.
• To protect babies from the sun, cover them, not the carseat, pram
or stroller. Use light, cotton clothing and a light muslin cloth, and
keep them in a cool and shaded area on hot days. Water, sand
and concrete can reflect UV light that causes sunburn, so it is
best to avoid placing prams and strollers near these areas.
• Never leave babies and young children sleeping in a parked car.
Light from the sun passes through the windows and heats up
materials in the car that radiate heat which can quickly overheat
a sleeping child.
Safe Sleep Day
Next Friday it’s Te Rā Mokopuna (National Safe Sleep day).
Currently approximately 44 babies are lost every year as a result of
Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI).
We can significantly reduce the risk for our babies by following the
simple PEPE rules.
SAFE SLEEP DAY
7TH DECEMBER 2018
MOKOPUNA ORA