Most deaths due to SIDS occur between 2 and 4 months of age, and incidence increases during cold weather. African-American infants are twice as likely and Native American infants are about three times more likely to die of SIDS than Caucasian infants. More boys than girls fall victim to SIDS.
Other potential risk factors include:
- 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
More than 2,000 babies a year, about 7 of every 10,000 born in this country, die of SIDS in the first months of their life. Researchers have found that many of the deaths occurred while the babies, most of them boys, were sleeping on their stomachs, often on soft bedding or in a bed with someone else.
from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/science/01sids.html?_r=1
SIDS in England and Wales
- In 1996 the incidence in England and Wales was 0.9 per 1,000 live births.
- By 1998 and 1999 this figure had fallen to 0.45 per 1,000. Boys are more often affected than girls, representing about 60% of cases.
- The commonest season is the winter and the commonest time is early morning. This may be related to changing sleep patterns as the infant matures and biological clocks.
- Over the last decade, due to a greater understanding of the risk factors associated with SIDS and particularly the risk of the infant sleeping in a prone position, the number of SIDS deaths has declined significantly.
A friend of a friend lost her child to SIDS. She and her family were devastated. I can only imagine the hurt, pain, and grief that they experienced mourning an unexplained death.
Reading this information made me ever grateful for my children. I will work to share this knowledge with any new mothers I encounter.
I too wrote about SIDS. Your information was informative and interesting, I didn't know that the most common season was winter, and happens the most in the morning, Since you ar also interested in SIDS, you might want to check out my posting that involves,"mattress wrapping".
ReplyDeleteWill do. Thanks, Christina!
ReplyDeleteSIDS is so scary, I remember when my son was a baby, that was one of the scariest things, I thought about it all the time. The factors are interesting, but I noticed that most of them are easily avoidable, smoking while pregnant, or in the house with a baby, soft bedding, etc. What I did not realize was it was common with mothers younger than 20. Do you know why that is?
ReplyDeleteThanks
Chelsea