London, UK —- The cot death charity, The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID), today launched the UK’s first social networking site for teenage parents.
Latest figures show that mums under 20 are over four times more likely to have a baby die as a cot death than older mothers*.
The new site, bubbalicious.co.uk, offers support and safe sleep tips for both mums and young dads.
Users can chat, win prizes, upload 50 photos and take part in a four-level baby-care challenge. If successful, they are awarded the title of Top Dad or Big Sister which allows them to give advice to other parents on the site.
FSID’s director, Joyce Epstein, said,
Sadly, the latest research shows that teenage mums have the highest rate of cot death, but we think that many are missing out on safe sleep advice.
We developed bubbalicious after consulting with young parents across the country, and we really hope that the support available on the site will help improve the life chances of the UK’s most vulnerable babies.
*Latest figures from the Office of National Statistics published on 26 August 2009: Rate of deaths per 1000 live births for mothers under 20 years of age in England and Wales: 1.12. For mothers over 24 years: 0.25.
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