About First Candle

First Candle was born in the early 1960s as the National SIDS Foundation, later the SIDS Alliance. It rebranded as First Candle in 2002, to reflect its expanded mission to include preventing not only Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) but all sleep-related infant deaths, such as Accidental Suffocation in Bed (ASSB) and other Sudden Unexplained Infant Deaths (SUID).

The name First Candle symbolizes both remembrance for infants lost and hope for ensuring every baby reaches their first birthday safely.

The organization was a coalition member of the 1994 “Back to Sleep” public health campaign, led by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the U.S. Public Health Service, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task Force, the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs, and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The campaign advocated placing babies on their backs to sleep, and materials were distributed throughout the AAP, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, hospitals, and clinics.

By 1999 the campaign contributed to a nearly 50% decline in SIDS rates, but research indicated Black mothers were less likely to place their babies on their backs to sleep. The NICHD, the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), First Candle and others then met with Black organizations to explore safe sleep messages within Black communities, and the ongoing campaign would also focus on reducing SIDS among Black populations.

In 2012, First Candle was one of six organizations formally invited to partner with the NICHD to transition the Back to Sleep campaign into Safe to Sleep®, which emphasizes safe sleep environments and back-sleeping to reduce the risk of sleep-related infant death, with risk reduction strategies. It continues to incorporate science-based information on key issues of safe infant sleep into accessible messages, materials, and activities.

First Candle programs

While the rate of SIDS-related infant mortality has been declining, rates for non- Hispanic Black, Native Alaskan and American Indian infants are higher than for non-Hispanic White infants. Additionally, the rate of SUID has quadrupled since 1984 and is three times greater than in Black communities. This has been attributed to cultural, societal and economic factors that foster bed sharing and other at-risk sleep environments.

This led First Candle to create Straight Talk for Infant Safe Sleep in 2017, a training program for healthcare professionals that is designed to broaden infant safe sleep counseling to include ways of recognizing real-world factors and perceptions that may affect families’ acceptance of safe sleep practices.

This was followed by the launch of Let’s Talk Community Chats in 2021, to reach parents and caregivers through a collaborative partnership with community organizations toward providing free education and access to health resources. Monthly sessions are held at locations where families congregate, such as churches, community centers, laundromats, retail establishments and WIC offices. The meetings involve professionals as well as peers who have been trained through the Straight Talk program. In 2025 Let’s Talk expanded its outreach to include sessions in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), working with staff and families around infant safe sleep and breastfeeding.

First Candle also provides  bereavement support, offering compassion, expertise, professional guidance, and a network of those who understand,  because they too know the pain of losing a baby.

First Candle is also a member of the International Society for the Study and Prevention of Perinatal and Infant Death (ISPID) and in October 2025 will host the Society’s biennial conference, This event brings together researchers, educators, advocates and families together to learn of current work in infant health, breastfeeding, and bereavement.