Michigan First Lady: Remember the ABCs of Infant Safety When Sleeping

The cause of baby Lailah Simpson's death "could have happened in any family," said her mother, Shareece Lee. 

Lailah died of preventable, accidental suffocation after Lee placed the three-month-old on her stomach to sleep, just as she had done with her two oldest children.

As Lailah's father, Patrick Simpson, of Novi, went to check on her, he realized she was not breathing. Lailah was transported to Sinai Grace Hospital and died on Aug. 3, 2011, which is Lee's birthday.

Lee has since worked to share her experience with Beaumont Children's Hospital in Royal Oak, where on Monday, Michigan First Lady Sue Snyder announced her support for the education programs in partnership with the state Departments of Human Services and Community Health.

"I am very blessed to be able to help other parents to not have to experience the loss of a child," said Lee, 33. "I look back and I think that it could have happened in any family — Lailah could have been with my mom or my sister or with me — and education is the only way to stop it."

"The pain that the families in this video expressed, a grief that is no doubt shared by every parent that has lost a child to unsafe sleep, is felt by us all," said Snyder. "I clearly remember being a new mom. There is nothing you wouldn’t do for your baby. But for too many families in Michigan, the need to nurture and comfort turns to tragedy." 

Lee said that at the time of Lailah's infancy, her personal experience in raising two children who are now teenagers, as well as her professional experience working as a nurse, afforded her a certain arrogance: "I never understood the dynamics, the anatomical reasons, why she needed to sleep on her back. I just felt like I didn't need to know because I had raised two kids already."

Audrey Kalasky, a clinical nurse specialist in Royal Oak Beaumont's NICU, said that while that type attitude of is seen frequently, that parents have been quick to respond to the hospital's new informational campaign touting The ABCs of Safe Sleep: "Alone, on my back, in a crib." 

"We compare it to cigarette smoking – remember how you used to be able to smoke everywhere? This is the same thing – we say that research supports that this will keep babies away from risk," Kalasky said.

"Just like smoking, we know that as soon as you leave the hospital with your baby, you've got a whole world that could be telling you something entirely different. But, we think we know what's most important."

Michael Bambach, 33, of Rochester Hills said that when he first of heard the new program, he thought Beaumont nurses were trying to teach his newborn daughter the alphabet.

Having seen his wife Stacey give birth twice already at Royal Oak Beaumont, he was unfamiliar with the recommendations before Stacey gave birth to daughter Alaina on Sunday night.

But now that he knows about the program, he wouldn't think twice about using its teachings.

"I couldn’t even imagine those people who lost a baby to this, something which is essentially preventable. You’d never think that something as innocent as a blanket or a stuffed animal could do it, then you hear these stories," he said.

Knowing that she's teaching others helps Lee deal with the grief of losing her own child. "It helps me realize that everything in life has a purpose," she said.

An eight-minute video featuring interviews with Lee and Snyder is being aired through the hospital's television system, as well as being available online at michigan.gov/safesleep. The agencies are also in talks with other hospitals and partners across the state to provide the video in coordination with other educational videos to new parents.