Infant Loss Awareness Month proclaimed in Town & County of Stettler

Sep 24, 2026 | 4:19 PM

The County of Stettler and Town of Stettler have proclaimed October Infant Loss Awareness Month.

A signing ceremony was held earlier this week in town council chambers.

“No one should ever have to know the pain of losing a child,” says Gord Lawlor, mayor, Town of Stettler.

“Infant loss particularly struck a chord with me because of a SIDS death I experienced while working in Victim Services. It is a loss that stays with you, and it is important that we recognize and support the families who have experienced it.”

According to Statistics Canada, from 2015 to 2020, there were approximately 1,700 deaths per year among infants under the age of one.

$4.1 million

Long-awaited ambulance bay opens at Innisfail Health Centre

Infant Loss Awareness Month proclaimed in Town & County of Stettler

47m ago

One in 15 of these occurred while the infant was asleep, and 70 per cent of them were among infants under four-months-old.

More than nine in 10 were in an unsafe sleep environment, the 2021 report notes.

In a separate report, Statistics Canada writes that in the early 2000s, the rate of SIDS in Canada dropped by half, mainly because most parents began placing their babies on their backs to sleep. Lower rates of smoking and higher rates of breastfeeding also helped to lower the SIDS rate, it says.

It’s also noted that since 2012, the term SIDS is not used in most provinces and territories, and has been replaced by the term ‘undetermined cause.’

More information is available in the 2021-published Joint Statement on Safe Sleep.

by Josh Hall

Infant Loss Awareness Month proclaimed in Town & County of Stettler

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