It was 13 deaths in 20 YEARS!. If you think about how popular slings are (even assuming this statistic is limited to the U.S.) I'd say that would make slings and carriers quite safe! Not all the deaths were suffocation, some of them were from babies falling out of slings (I have no concept of how this could even occur to be honest) and some aparently because the bubs chins were resting on their chests and restricting their breathing. Most if not all of the babies who died were premmie or had breathing difficulties.
Nee - what you are saying is correct in essence, but it's important to distinguish that these deaths were predominately due to positional asphyxia, and all specifically related to the same type of carrier - what is commonly known as the bag sling.
My post in the other thread gives more information on how to position a newborn safely and why the bag sling type is particularly dangerous because its inherent design makes bad positioning and airflow difficult to avoid.
Babywearing groups have been campaigning for bag slings to be removed from the market for a long time now, so this decision has been met with great approval. Hopefully this will be the starting point for more widespread education on babywearing safety rather than a witch-hunt on wearing in general.
To reiterate though - all carriers should be used with an awareness of safe positioning, but most are not inherently dangerous (unlike the bag sling) and their design does promote correct posture.
Another thing worth mentioning is that provided that it is done with awareness of good positioning, kangaroo care has been shown to be beneficial for premmies and newborns and should not be avoided. It would be very disappointing if misplaced concern over the safety of carriers in general caused some parents to shy away from what is a wonderful way of interacting with their infants.
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