Milwaukee initiates safe-sleep campaign

MILWAUKEE, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Milwaukee officials have begun a campaign against co-sleeping, the practice of keeping an infant in an adult's bed for the night.

The campaign was announced Monday, three days after a 6-week-old girl suffocated while sharing a bed with her mother, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Africa Shaw found her daughter dead when she woke up.

"It is, truly, a parent's worst nightmare," Mayor Tom Barrett said at a news conference.

His words echoed Shaw's, who told the newspaper what she went through Christmas morning: "It seemed like I was dreaming. I knew I would wake up."

As a backdrop, Barrett had a large poster showing a comfortable bed, with a tombstone instead of a headboard. The tombstone read: "For too many babies last year, this was their final resting place."

City Health Commissioner Bevan Baker said babies should sleep alone in a crib with no blankets, soft toys or pillows. They should be put down on their backs so they are face up.