03/09/2021 - Safe at Home

Life-saving parental advice which kept a vulnerable young baby safe is just one example of the type of vital support provided to hundreds of families by an organisation funded by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL).

The eight-week-old tot was feared at risk of suffocation and possible Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) when unsafe sleeping practices at the home were discovered. And that’s when the organisation Safe at Home stepped in to help.

Child injury prevention expert Elaine Ainsworth contacted the baby’s father Abdul who translated to his partner how supposedly harmless pillows, baby nests and sleep positioners were not recommended for young babies and could put their baby at risk.

Elaine helped the family to make safer and better informed choices for their baby, as well as directing them to the Lullaby Trust which provided further help in the couple’s first language.

Abdul said: “Safe at Home provided me with some extremely important and valuable information which has given my family and me a lot of things to take into consideration when it comes to safety at home with our newborn. It has helped us to plan things better for now and in the future and to identify possible risks which we normally would not have thought of.

“If this service was not available then we would have been a little less wise and kept on doing certain things which we may have thought it was OK to do but in the long run could have had an impact on the wellbeing of our child. I am really grateful this service does exist and feel that every new parent should take this service on board. We feel that we can always reach out to Safe at Home if we need more information.”

The service has received funding from Luton Council’s airport company for the past five years, allowing it to grow and become the established and nationally recognised scheme that it is today.

Luton has the seventh highest rate of child poverty in England (IDACI, 2019) and, as there is a link between families in disadvantaged areas and higher numbers of accidents in the home, money provided by LLAL is invaluable in keeping families safe.

Elaine said: “This service is vital to families with young children to help them understand the importance of safety and ensure their home is made as safe as possible. Sometimes parents do not intentionally put a child at risk but are simply unaware of hazards.