Former NIH official says Trump admin cut government's 'Safe to Sleep' team that helped reduce infant deaths

Yahoo

07-05-2025

In mid-2025, rumors spread online about the potential closure of the national campaign "Safe to Sleep," which educated parents on ways to reduce the risk of sleep-related infant deaths. The National Institutes of Health launched the public education initiative in 1994 alongside several private organizations, and the program helped slash deaths attributed to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
It is accurate to say that a former NIH spokesperson who worked at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the NIH institute that led Safe to Sleep, announced in April that her entire office was eliminated, effectively ending the federal government's participation in the campaign. As of this writing, Christina Stile, the spokesperson, is still listed as NICHD's public-facing contact on NIH's website.
However, NIH would not confirm this report and said "no final decisions" had been made about the future of the program. Stile told Snopes that while there is no one left at NIH to lead Safe to Sleep, she suspects NIH's statement is truthful because the Trump administration's efforts to restructure the federal government is still ongoing as of this writing.
Nonprofit organizations that collaborated on the Safe to Sleep campaign are looking to continue the program. But in an emailed update to Safe to Sleep partners from Dr. Rachel Moon, a pediatrics professor who worked on the program, Moon warned that while the American Academy of Pediatrics would "continue to be a leading voice," the organization cannot "dedicate as much time and resources as NICHD could."
In late April and early May 2025, a rumor spread online that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration fired the National Institutes of Health (NIH) team behind "Safe to Sleep," a public awareness campaign to prevent babies from dying in their sleep.
The program helped slash deaths attributed to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) by more than half when it first launched 30 years ago, according to the NIH and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDP) data. Those rates have risen in recent years despite decreasing infant mortality, according to peer-reviewed research.
Discussion about the federal government's alleged decision circulated on Bluesky, Facebook and Reddit. Meanwhile, Snopes readers searched the website for information on whether Trump's administration eliminated the Safe to Sleep team.
It is accurate to say that according to former NIH spokesperson Christina Stile, Trump's administration eliminated the team that coordinated the Safe to Sleep campaign, effectively ending the federal government's participation in the wide-ranging public education initiative, as first reported by STAT News. However, in a statement sent via email, NIH said that "no final decision has been made regarding the future of the Safe to Sleep® campaign."
"Safe to Sleep® campaign materials and tools remain available to the public, and we encourage individuals to visit https://safetosleep.nichd.nih.gov to access these resources," NIH's statement said. When pressed to acknowledge that NIH fired the Safe to Sleep team, the agency said it was "unable to comment on personnel matters."
Stile worked at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), which NIH oversees, until the White House eliminated the institute's communications office. That office led the Safe to Sleep initiative in partnership with various nonprofit organizations that shared Safe to Sleep educational resources with parents in local communities.
Stile said in a LinkedIn direct message that she suspects the agency's statement about having "no final decision" on the program's future is truthful, as the Trump administration continues to restructure the federal government.
"There is no certainty that NICHD will even exist if the NIH is reorganized, nor is it known whether its mission will include reducing infant mortality," said Stile, whose name was still on the institute's staff list webpage as of this writing.
Due to the constantly changing situation, and because NIH declined to confirm the layoffs, we are not putting a truthfulness rating on this story — but here is what we know to be true as of this writing.
White House eliminates the office in charge
Stile said officials eliminated NICHD's entire communications office on April 1.
"That action effectively ended NICHD's leadership of the campaign," Stile wrote. She said the decision "was made without warning or explanation by the administration under the purview of DOGE," or the Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE did not immediately return a request sent via X to confirm this; the department does not have a formal and public-facing media office.
The federal government first launched "Safe to Sleep" under the name "Back to Sleep" in 1994 alongside private organizations. Back then, the public awareness campaign focused specifically on reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, a type of sudden unexplained death that usually occurs when the baby is asleep. (The name "Back to Sleep" came from the recommendation that healthy babies be placed on their backs.)
Deaths dropped in the years following the program — according to a 2012 news release, SIDS rates in the United States had dropped 50% since the start of the campaign; peer-reviewed research also indicates the program had a positive impact. At the same time, however, non-SIDS sleep-related infant deaths rose, leading NICHD to expand the program to address those causes as well.
"Safe to Sleep builds upon the success of the Back to Sleep campaign and includes messages about reducing the risk of SIDS and of other sleep-related causes of infant death, such as suffocation and entrapment," the 2012 release said.
"Since the campaign began, U.S. SIDS rates have dropped by 50% overall and the rate of back sleeping has increased significantly," a 2012 news release from NICHD announcing the decision said.
Ending the federal government's participation in Safe to Sleep does not necessarily mean the end of the campaign itself, at least informally — but it does mean it would require new leadership.
"I think it's possible NICHD or NIH could support Safe to Sleep through other means in the future; but, for now, there is nobody at NICHD to lead the activities," Stile told Snopes.
According to Shayna Raphael, who leads an organization raising awareness about SIDS called the Claire Bear Foundation, nonprofits formerly partnered with NICHD on Safe to Sleep are in discussions with each other regarding how to continue "the best version" possible of the campaign without participation from the federal government. In an email forwarded to Snopes by Raphael, Dr. Rachel Moon, a pediatrics professor who collaborated on the campaign, said staff members from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and First Candle, two organizations that co-founded the initial campaign with NICHD, met and "unanimously agreed that the Safe to Sleep campaign should continue."
"The AAP will continue to be a leading voice in the campaign as resources and priorities allow within the evolving context of child health, safety, and wellness," Moon wrote. "However, it should be understood by all that the AAP will not be able to dedicate as much time and resources as NICHD could."
Moon added that staff at First Candle volunteered to schedule the quarterly Safe to Sleep campaign partner meetings once led by NICHD, and that AAP would welcome "new partners who may be interested in taking a lead role." Snopes reached out to AAP to verify the information in Moon's email was accurate and up-to-date and await a response.
In sum, it appears the program will likely continue, with or without the federal government's help — but as of this writing, the Trump administration appears to have terminated support of the Safe to Sleep campaign.
Sources:
Belkoura, Ismael M. "NIH Cancels Participation in Safe to Sleep Campaign That Decreased Infant Deaths." Statnews.com, STAT, 30 Apr. 2025, www.statnews.com/2025/04/30/nih-ends-participation-in-safe-to-sleep-campaign-to-prevent-infant-deaths/. Accessed 6 May 2025.
"Campaign History | Safe to Sleep®." Https://Safetosleep.nichd.nih.gov/, safetosleep.nichd.nih.gov/campaign/history. Accessed 6 May 2025.
"Contacts." National Institutes of Health (NIH), 11 May 2015, www.nih.gov/institutes-nih/nih-office-director/office-communications-public-liaison/clear-communication/plain-language/contacts. Accessed 6 May 2025.
"Contacts | National Institutes of Health (NIH)." Archive.ph, 6 May 2025, archive.ph/R3kwH. Accessed 6 May 2025.
Deng, Grace. "Trump's First 100 Days: 25 Rumors We've Investigated." Snopes, 29 Apr. 2025, www.snopes.com/collections/trump-first-100-days-collection/. Accessed 6 May 2025.
"Homepage | Safe to Sleep." Nih.gov, National Institutes of Health, safetosleep.nichd.nih.gov/. Accessed 6 May 2025.
"NICHD and Its Collaborators Launch Expanded Infant Mortality Awareness Campaign." Https://Www.nichd.nih.gov/, 3 Oct. 2012, www.nichd.nih.gov/newsroom/resources/spotlight/100312-safe-to-sleep. Accessed 6 May 2025.
Rodgers, Linda. "Amid Decreasing Infant Mortality, Sleep-Related Infant Deaths Are on the Rise." JAMA, Mar. 2025, https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2025.1345. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.