AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Watching your baby sleep peacefully should be a joy for new parents, but for many — it ends in heartbreak.

In South Carolina, the number of babies who died from sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, more than doubled in 2021.

In Georgia, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported 148 babies died because of an unsafe sleep environment.

There are no symptoms or warning signs for SIDS.

But we found there is one danger that can be prevented. In Richmond County alone, Coroner Mark Bowen tells News 12 that 16 babies died from 2021 to 2022 from sleeping on unsafe surfaces.

There have been campaigns to promote safe sleep advising parents never to sleep with their babies and to put them on their backs on a safe firm crib mattress.

But we found a safe bed is a luxury not every family can afford. So, we went to work to find solutions.

Baby Uziah was born with spina bifida.

“99 percent chance he won’t ever walk or crawl,” said his mom, Falisha Favero.

He’s almost one now.

“I don’t believe in what these doctors say because it’s not up to them. It’s up to the man upstairs,” she said.

Favero doesn’t have much, but she faithfully gets him to all of his appointments, and there are a lot of them.

“Being a single mom trying to take care of four kids on your own with no job. Him having doctor’s appointments, because of spina bifida. I can’t work. I’d get fired from a job the day I start,” she said.

But despite how hard it all is— He’s her little miracle.

“What the heck,” she gasped. “What the heck did he just do?”

Which he decided to prove on camera.

“I got chills. Oh my gosh,” she said.

We asked if he had ever stood up before.

“No! He’ll get on his knees,” said Favero.

Beating those one percent odds.

“He just stood up for everybody,” she said.

When Uziah came home from the ICU, he didn’t have a crib. Or even a crib mattress. His mom couldn’t afford one.

Padmashree “Champa” Woodham is the director of the regional perinatal center at Augusta University Medical Center. She said, “I think one of the biggest issues we see is patients coming from populations where they really just don’t have the resources.”

Woodham treats high-risk pregnancy patients at AU, and many live in poverty.

“Families don’t have an option at times in terms of purchasing items like that. So, they utilize beds they already have at their home which then automatically increases their risk of co-sleeping and the consequences of that,” she said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation found about 30 percent of babies who died of SIDS did not have a crib in the home.

Over 50 percent were on unsafe sleep surfaces or using unsafe bedding. Many times, Woodham hears the heartbreaking stories behind the stats as she’s treating moms during their next pregnancy.

“Sometimes it’s really hard to get moms to talk about it because they feel guilty or they were in a situation where they couldn’t provide safe sleep practices not because they didn’t want to because they just couldn’t,” said Woodham.

Favero said: “I have a best friend, the same thing happened.”

Her best friend lost her baby to SIDS.

“Hard, real hard. And last year she passed away as well,” said Favero.

It’s the reason Favero never lets Uziah sleep in her bed.

“Parents are sleeping with babies in the bed, you’ll roll over and not even know the baby’s there,” she said.

And why she’s so grateful she got a donated crib through the Family Y soon after Uziah came home.

Catie McCauley is with the family YMCA. She said, “One of the things we’ve noticed many times is when we go to give beds to school-aged children, there’s an infant. And when we ask, are their needs met? Is there a crib? Many times the answer is no.”

Which is exactly how they found out Uziah needed a crib. The Family Y’s Place to Dream Program doesn’t typically provide cribs, but volunteers bought one.

“But, when I heard the number of deaths related to that,” she said. “As a mom, your heart just sinks. Like, we’ve gotta fix that. We’ve got to do something.”

We felt the same way. This is why News 12 is teaming up to start a new program with Augusta University Medical Center, and the Family Y to provide cribs to parents who can’t afford to buy one.

Woodham said: “If we can solve something as simple as that, I think that would make a really huge impact given the percentage of these deaths are related to sleep.”

McCauley said: “When you think about an infant who may be sleeping in an unsafe environment, that’s life or death. So, to leave an infant at a home without a crib, that’s where our heart really lies, and we would love to be able to support that and expand our place to dream program.”

AU is already working on identifying moms who need help. They already identified moms who truly need a crib.

We really need your help.

Drop off new, unused cribs, crib mattresses, or fitted crib sheets to News 12 at 1226 Gray Way or to the Family Y headquarters at 1058 Claussen Road Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

You can also ship the items straight to the headquarters.

You can also donate directly to A Place to Dream.

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