Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Twenty years ago, one of my co-workers took her baby to
daycare, expecting to see him again; however, that day she experienced the
devastating effects of SIDS. For months, she was unable to cope with the
emptiness and stress of the loss of her first child. She couldn’t understand
why her very healthy five month old, had died!
In this post, I would like to discuss SIDS and some of the
research done, to identify the causes of such a horrific syndrome against
infants.
SIDS can be defined as a sudden unexpected death of an infant
younger than one year of age. If there are no signs of other causes of death,
after a formal investigation and autopsy, SIDS is ruled as the cause of death (Carolan, “n.d”, para. 1).
It has been reported that 90% of SID deaths, effect infants
younger than six months of age.
Suspected Causes of SIDS
Although causes of SIDS are still unknown, research has
identified some reasons why SID has occurred:
1.
Exposure to cigarette smoke
2.
Bed Sharing
3.
Bed covers and blankets
4.
Position of the infant when placed in the bed(stomach)
Research has also shown, that SIDS is more prevalent in male
babies, appear to occur during the winter months, effects African American and
Native Americans, more than any other culture (Carolan, “n.d”, p. 3).
During my study on SIDS, I found one research on the causes
of SIDS, to be quite interesting. According to Dr. Patrick Carolan, SIDS may be
the result of interacting factors: SIDS appears to reveal a delay or
abnormality in the development of nerve cells within the brain, that are
critical to normal heart and lung functions
(Carolan, “n.d”, p. 3). Examination
of the brainstems, of infants who died with the diagnosis of SIDS, showed a
developmental delay in the formation and function of several serotonin-binding
nerve cell pathways within the brain
(Carolan, “n.d”, p. 3). Those pathways have shown to be important to
regulating breathing, heart rate and blood pressure responses during awakening
from sleep (Carolan, “n.d”, p. 3).
In 1994, a “Back to Sleep” campaign began in the USA,
encouraging families to place their infants on their backs to sleep. Since the
“Back to Sleep campaign, SIDS has dropped 50% in the US. How exciting! I
appreciate research!!!! Because I have learned so much about SIDS and the
effect it has on families, I can use what I learned, to educate the families I
connect with daily. I can encourage them to place their babies on their backs,
avoid smoking around their babies, and place infants in separate beds instead
of co-sleeping.
References
Hello Magretta
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot about SIDS by reading your post. I didn't realize that SIDS affected more male than females. It is scary to know that so little is known about this. The bedsharing scared me the most because when my twins were born the first months I did have them sleep in the same crib. In regards to bed sharing, is it between siblings or is it when the children sleep with a parent?