Focus on Pediatrics: SIDS education saves 2,000 babies annually
Focus on Pediatrics: SIDS education saves 2,000 babies annually
Target parents, grandparents, and caregivers
Since the Back To Sleep campaign began in 1992, the rate of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in the United States decreased by a total of 42%, according to numbers released by the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Alliance in Baltimore. This campaign has taught parents to put their babies to sleep on their backs rather than their stomachs and other important prevention methods.
Educating new parents saves the lives of more than 2,000 babies each year. However, SIDS still is the leading cause of death in infants between 1 and 12 months old, so health care providers must be vigilant. "We like education to take place third trimester and also once the baby is born," says Kathy Graham, MSW, MHS, program coordinator for SIDS Alliance.
Discussion of SIDS during the third trimester can focus on the nursery and where the baby will sleep. After the baby is born, the focus might be how the baby will sleep. Providing a time to reinforce what was first taught refreshes parents’ memories and helps them become aware of facts they missed the first time. What needs to be taught? Graham suggests the following information:
- Back sleeping: When putting babies to sleep, parents should place them on their backs. If infants fall asleep on their stomachs, parents should know to gently turn them onto their backs.
- Bedding: The baby’s crib should have a firm, flat mattress, and no fluffy blankets or coverings. Pillows, sheepskins, or comforters should never be placed under the baby. Parents might consider using a sleeper or other sleep clothing as an alternative to blankets. Infants should never sleep on a waterbed, sofa, or with stuffed toys or pillows.
- Head covering: If babies’ heads become covered during sleep, they are at an increased risk for SIDS because it causes re-breathing of stale air. Therefore, parents shouldn’t place a blanket over a baby’s face for protection from sun or weather while sleeping.
- Smoking: Women who smoke during pregnancy are three times more likely to have a SIDS baby. Passive smoke in a household after the baby’s birth doubles the risk of SIDS.
- Room temperature: A baby’s room should be at a temperature that feels comfortable to an adult. When babies become too warm, they fall into a deep sleep and are difficult to arouse.
It’s important to explain to parents that some babies are possibly born with some sort of defect in the brain stem and they don’t have an internal mechanism that tells them to turn their heads if they are re-breathing carbon dioxide, says Graham. "It is not only better that these infants are not face-down or on their stomach but that they are not around soft materials, so we stress no blankets or very light blankets," she says.
In spite of the education campaign initiated by the SIDS Alliance, there are some groups of people that need to be better educated on the topic. Grand-parents are one of these groups. They were taught to put infants to sleep on their stomachs to prevent choking. Therefore, new parents need to be coached to educate their parents before soliciting their help as baby-sitters. Also, sleeping arrangements at grandparents’ houses need to be evaluated.
A second group is day care providers. "If infants have gotten used to being placed on their backs and are placed on their stomachs in day care, they are at much higher risk for SIDS. We call them unaccustomed stomach-sleepers,’" says Graham.
Source
For more information on preventing sudden infant death syndrome, contact:
- Kathy Graham, MSW, MHS, Program Coordinator, SIDS Alliance, 1314 Bedford Ave., Suite 210, Baltimore, MD 21208. Telephone: (410) 653-8226. Web site: www.sidsalliance.org.
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