Promoting hospital discharge of infants in safety seats

In 1990, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention issued a policy statement, "Safe Transportation of Newborns Discharged from the Hospital," recommending that hospitals adopt comprehensive policies, procedures and education programs for the discharge of newborns in child safety seats (CSSs). The purpose of this project was to determine if a statewide educational intervention based on the AAP statement would be effective in bringing about those recommendations in Nebraska hospitals. All hospitals providing newborn services in Nebraska were surveyed prior to and after the intervention to determine the nature and extent of their CSS discharge policies, patient education programs and loan programs. Post-intervention data indicate significant increases in the percentage of hospitals having formal infant CSS discharge policies (from 25.9% to 88%), providing CSS patient education (from 51% to 95%), and having safety seat loan/give-away programs (from 59% to 76%). It is concluded that a comprehensive, statewide educational program can influence hospitals to promote usage of, access to, and education with infant CSSs.