AIBU to think that mothers need to be given the real stats behind SIDS risk?

[clarabellabunting]

Watching Anne Diamond on TV this morning, she heavily implied that pretty much every single case of SIDS/cot death in the last year was in a smoking household. Does anyone know where she got this from and how I can get access to statistics like this?

This made me think about the stats we are given on SIDS and how much more statistical evidence should be provided to mothers so that we can make a realistic judgement about risk.

I would like to know what percent of deaths were babies whose parents were following ALL the recommendations. What percent were babies sleeping on their front?

Anne Diamond said that 2/3 of SIDS cases were in co-sleeping situations but then went onto say she didn't know how many of these were on sofas. Can stats like this be broken down?

We are often told the 'risk factors' for SIDS for us to avoid but are not given the numbers behind this. I wonder if they do not provide this because they don't want to 'blame' the bereaved parents who did not follow recommendations (especially because there seems to be no proven causal relationship between any of the risk factors and SIDS, just correlation).

Can you tell that I have a small baby and am thus obsessed with avoiding SIDS at the moment??? I think that even though the numbers are so small now compared to 20 years ago, the risk of SIDS still looms large in new mothers' minds and knowing how low/high the risk is for those who follow all the recommendations would be a big help in allaying our fears. Surely this information exists somewhere???

Knowing that 99% of SIDS (if that's what it is) happens in smoking households would be a good bit of info to spread if only to calm the fears of non-smoking mothers.

Sorry, didn't answer the question! YANBU, the lack of data available and conflicting advice frustrated me as well until I found the Australian website.

SIDS are unexplained and should not include accidental death from smothering.

Some of FSIDs advice info confuses (IMO) because it includes info on reducing risk from accidental (getting tangled up in bedding etc) as well as unexplained

FSID is a charity originally founded by bereaved parents - they are not part of the NHS

As already posted risks are extrapolated from gathering info after a SIDS has occured and looking for patterns

The majority (not all of course) occur where there is already social deprivation & the baby had previous health problems.

From memory;
Approx 80% are from 'smoking households' - even if people smoke outside.

Alcohol and/or drug use is increasingly recognised as a factor.

Not breastfeeding doubles the risk.

Falling asleep on a sofa/ chair is high risk and some of the cosleeping stats include those. This is particularly heart rending if a mother gets out of bed because she is terrified of falling asleep there and then falls asleep on a chair.

Safe co sleeping (following all the guidelines) has not been shown to increase risk

Because some people cannot safely cosleep, doesn't mean that no one no one should

Actually, not breast feeding does not double the risk. There is no clear proof one way or the other. Research is on the Sids and kids page listed above

I attended some training on SIDS, delivered by FSIDS earlier this year. Apparently there is evidence emerging from the US that some babies appear to be more vulnerable than others - and that changes in the brain, in the area which regulates respiration have been found in post mortems on babies who have died. So it was suggested that there are, and always will be, babies who are more vulnerable to SIDS - we just don't know which ones they are. And research has given us information on things we CAN control which lower the risks (never going to eliminate them altogether, especially if it does turn out that there are these more vulnerable babies).

In the prone position (on the tummy) - a baby will go into a deeper sleep because they are warmer - for most babies this probably won't be a problem but it does increase the risk.

They also said that it's smoking during pregnancy which is very risky to the unborn child, and that if all women could be persuaded not so smoke when pregnant, around a third of current SIDS could probably be avoided.

And if more than one risk factor is present (eg, smoking, baby in own room, sleeping on tummy) then the risks are multiplied and not added.

I think it's important that parents are givng information on what they can do to lower the risks to their baby - then it's up to them what they chose to do with that information. All we can do is our best - there's risks in everything we do and in what we chose to do with/for our children.

Looking at the links submitted by ilovemountains, sleeping on a sofa (either baby alone or co-sleeping with parent) is considered unsafe, presumably because a sofa is a "soft surface" i.e. nothing to do with accidentally falling asleep on a chair/sofa and smothering the baby.

Check out the factsheet, its guidance is clear and succinct: www.sidsandkids.org/wp-content/uploads/English-SidsandKids-SafeSleepingFactsheet.pdf

Link to Safe Sleeping Factsheet mentioned above.

www.healthychild.com/toxic-sleep/has-the-cause-of-crib-death-sids-been-found/

interesting article about mattress fumes and protective mattress covers. NZ researched.

"The authors say this study shows that breastfeeding reduced the risk of sudden infant death syndrome by around 50% at all ages throughout infancy and for as long as the infant is breastfed." from

www.unicef.org.uk/BabyFriendly/News-and-Research/Research/Cot-death/Does-breastfeeding-reduce-the-risk-of-Sudden-Infant-Death-Syndrome/

This page has more research findings www.unicef.org.uk/BabyFriendly/News-and-Research/Research/Cot-death/

Interesting indeed.

Some earlier research did not figure in feeding method because researchers didn't ask how the baby was fed!

Also from memory, the cot fumes theory was unfounded - but resulted in increased sales of matresses so is still brought up by retailers.

The UNICEF pages reference one piece of research, the Sids and Kids pages reference the same piece of research PLUS others which did not find any link.

The cot mattress theory is unfounded, would link to relevant information statement but now on phone!

When my eldest was born 16 years ago there was a big thing about matresses, they withdrew alot of them snd replaced them with what they considered safer ones

I thought the reason smothering was included was because it doesn't leave signs which can be seen in an autopsy.

Sofas etc are unsafe because they are a soft surface, they tend to be uneven, so more chance of the baby rolling from where you have left them, there tends to be gaps eg between sofa cushions babies can get trapped in, the sleeping space for an adult lying down is narrower than a bed so more chance of babies falling onto the floor (and you're more likely to be sitting than lying so further to fall again) and all of these apply whether the parent has fallen asleep sitting up or lying down.

In most cases they cant prove If a child has smothered.

Look at all those poor women who were sent to prison because they had more than one child die from SIDS , they couldn't prove purposeful smothering but it was seen at the time as suspicious that it happened more than once.

Unfortunately it does happen, I know a women who's child died in it's cot, with her second child she was understandable worried and couldn't sleep very well. She fell asleep on the sofa with the baby and she died. They couldn't say if she accidentally smothered or if it would have happened even if shed been in her cot

So both her children died?!!!

Yes her first two, she has since had two more who are now teenagers

I have read that drinking in pregnancy increases risk too.

The midwife should have spoken to them about safe sleeping, and the HV probably would have on her first visit too.

I don't know who's job it is, my community mw quizzed me with ds3 to find out what I knew but I can't remember them doing it after ds1+2

As for drinking information seems to say that moderate drink is fine although when I was on a placement at a drug and alcohol centre the consultant said they realy didn't know if moderate drinking could cause fetal alcohol syndrome. children suffering from FAS are at a greater risk of being stillborn and death in infancy so would probably be at greater risk of SIDS