Of the public health topics the one that really interested me was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) also known as “Crib Death” is the sudden unexpected death of a seemingly normal, healthy infant under one year of age that remains unexplained after a thorough postmortem investigation, including an autopsy and a review of the case history.
· 90% of SIDS deaths occur during the first 6 months of life, usually occurring between 2 and 4 months.
· SIDS occurs about 1.5 times more frequently in boys than girls.
· The rate of SIDS is twice as high in African American infants as Caucasians.
· SIDS claims the lives of about 2500 in the United States each year.
Needless to say after reading this information during my research it only made me want to know more about SIDS and the potential risk factors, which are:
· Smoking, drinking, or drug use during pregnancy
· Poor prenatal care
· Prematurity or low birth weight
· Mothers younger than 20
· Tobacco smoke exposure following birth
· Overheating from excessive sleepwear and bedding
· Stomach sleeping
During my research I found a lot of information on Native American infants as it relates to SIDS. Native American infants are 3 times more likely to die from SIDS than American infants. This was unnerving to me and I wanted to learn more. As I read more I found that one reason SIDS deaths are higher in Indian infants is due to Indian culture and tradition. Indian mothers have a tradition of Co-sleeping; this is a highly valued practice for its physical and social benefits to the child, mother and family by providing child security, breastfeeding, bonding and family connectedness.
After my research on SIDS I feel that it is vital that we heighten awareness and education of SIDS in our younger mothers, lower income mothers, just mothers in general. In many ways I feel that children that are dying from SIDS are dying from senseless deaths and when we know better we do better. We have to educate them on how important it is for infants to sleep on their back on a firm surface in the room with the parents for the first year; avoiding high temperatures and excessive clothing; and how important it is to keep the temperature tolerable in the room in which the infant sleeps.
References:
Aslam, H., Kemp, L., Harris, E., & Gilbert, E. (2009). Socio-cultural perceptions of sudden infant death syndrome among migrant Indian mothers. Journal of Pediatrics & Child Health, 45(11), 670-675. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1754.2009.01593.x
Athanasakis, E. E., Karavasiliadou, S. S., & Styliadis, I. I. (2011). The factors contributing to the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Hippokratia, 15(2), 127-131.
Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI, also, chose to research SIDS and found many similar facts. My concern is, as you mentioned, for the heightened awareness of this disease. I believe, very strongly, that when a mom gives birth in a hospital, she needs to hear about SIDS... someone needs to explain the risks and things parents can do differently. Breastfeeding is discussed with moms in the hospital, and SIDS should be also (my opinion, of course). I don't know if you read my posting, but I called some hospitals and questioned them. The responses were mind boggling to me.
I, also, was interested in the connection to co-sleeping, which I was not aware of. It's pretty scary...
Knowledge, in this instance, can be very powerful and perhaps save a baby's life.
Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your information on SIDS. From your blog it appears that we need to educate moms as soon as they become pregnant because of the correlation between smoking and alcohol. I am also wondering why the incidents of deaths is higher in African Americans than in Caucasians. I will have to research birthing practices among African Americans. I wonder if African Americans co-sleep with their babies. Is that statistic relative to the United States or worldwide?
Our Family Service Workers will need to provide information to our young, pregnant moms or those who have just given birth about this syndrome.
Hi Tiffany, thanks for sharing on SIDS. When my children were babies I was told not to put them on their backs for fear that they would choke on their own spit up or vomit, and not to put them on their stomach for fear that they would suffocate. At that time they were selling wedges that you could put in the cribs and prop your babies against to help them stay on their sides. I can't tell you how many times I repositioned my children at night to try to keep them on their sides propped against this wedge! As you rightly stated it is very important that we educate pregnant women and new mothers on factors that contribute to the possibility of children falling victim to SIDS and what they can do to help prevent it from happening.
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