After celebrating the birth of their son two days ago, the Warwick family on Wednesday became the first family to take part in Douglas County’s newborn care health partnership at Sky Ridge Medical Center.

Ironically, both Jonah and Grace Warwick are medical professionals, but unexpectedly found themselves — and their two-day old son John — to be the first recipients in what county officials hope to be a lifesaving program.

Called the Healthy Families Partnership of Douglas County, 15 organizations have come together to provide education and support to all caregivers of newborns at Sky Ridge in Lone Tree.

Specifically, the partnership aims to reduce newborn deaths in the county. From now on, the parent(s) of newborns in the women’s hospital at Sky Ridge will receive a complimentary sleep sack with baby safety information resources.

The Warwicks, leaving the hospital together for the first time on Wednesday, learned they would be the first family to receive a sleep sack in the county’s new partnership.

“I mean, when they just asked us this morning about it, and we were just like, wow, that’s a really big honor,” Jonah Warwick, now a father of two, said.

A baby’s sleep sack eliminates the need for loose bedding in the crib, which can pose a risk of suffocation or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Education resources provided in the program include child development at all ages and stages, car seat safety, maternal mood disorders, parental stressors and safe sleep practices.

“It’s weird, because we’re both in the healthcare field,” he said with his wife, Grace. “So we just know how important it is, just for safety of, in general, of patients, but especially just having a newborn. This is our second child, and safety is our most important thing.”

Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon said he pitched the idea within the past year.

“Part of our vision in the Healthy Families partnership is to kick off this collaboration so that we can prevent future deaths and really educate, support and inform new parents in any shape that that takes,” the county commissioner said.

Roughly 4,000 babies a year, or on average 11 babies a day, are born at Sky Ridge Medical Center. That is the largest number of births of any hospital in Douglas County, according to the new Sky Ridge Medical Center CEO Eric Evans.

“It’s to be trusted by the parents, right, that they’re going to come here and deliver,” he said. “If it can just prevent one SIDs death, it’s worth it.”

The state of Colorado mandates each county to count infant mortality rates, and report it to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment.

Laura Larson, the Assistant Director of Community Health from the Douglas County Health Department, told The Denver Gazette Douglas County saw 12 infant deaths in 2022, and 14 deaths in 2023 as a result of injury or violence.

Larson said county officials are looking to implement the Healthy Families Partnership at all four of its major hospitals.

“We’re very fortunate because we already have all four of our hospital partners on board,” she said.

Now, Larson added, “there’s a lot of opportunity to get feedback from families and from staff on all these resources we need.”

The 15 organizations have donated 300 sleep sacks and newborn information kits to kickstart the program. All other expenses for the program are hospital-paid, according to officials.

“We know that families take all sorts of forms, and we support all the families in our community, but when you’re a new parent, you don’t get a set of instructions, although today I think you do,” Laydon said.