Since its inception, money raised from annual Red Nose Day fundraising efforts has resulted in an incredible 85% reduction of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) .

However, more than 3,000 babies across the country still pass away suddenly each year, an average of nine little lives passing unexpectedly each day.

Dianne Millar, Child and Family Health Nurse from Griffith Community Health Centre said that whilst rare, babies can still pass away unexpectedly and for no apparent reason in their sleep from SIDS.

"In the last 15 years we have seen a serious decrease in the number of sudden infant deaths both in our local community and more broadly across the country" Mrs Millar said.

"However whilst these numbers have plateaued, there is still a lot of work to be done in bringing these numbers down to zero."

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According to Mrs Millar, child and family health services were a critical component of supporting parents and their newborns, and providing education based on 'evidence based' recommendations.

"It is really important that we get our point across to all the local mums in our beautiful community safe recommendations for our babies after they are born and when they are sleeping" Mrs Millar said.

"As a Child and Family Health Nurse we follow up with a Universal Health Home visit to educate parents about sleep recommendations for safe sleeping, which only last month was updated"

NSW Health currently recommends the following safe sleeping arrangements, all of which are proven to dramatically reduce the risk of SIDS:

"Education and engagement with parents is key to reducing the risk of SIDS" Mrs Millar said.

"We still don't know why these tragedies happen, but I would encourage all parents to make sure they are implementing these safe sleeping recommendations."

If you would like to be a Red Nose Day Hero and fund new research, support services for heartbroken families and education programs to keep babies safe please head to https://www.rednoseday.org.au/

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