Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

I have found that as a mother-to-be it is important to find out the different cause and preventions for SIDS. I have a sibling that had died of SIDS, and find it crucial to learn about ways that I can prevent this from happening to my own child. 

A infant who seems to be healthy, but dies unexpectedly in their sleep due to not breathing, will be diagnosed with SIDS. In 1990 1 out of 8 infants in the United States of America passed away from SIDS (Stassen Berger, 2009). Thankfully the number of deaths have decreased, due to the increase of multicultural awareness for infant care (Stassen Berger, 2009). Scientist started to conduct studies to find out why Hong Kong's ration for SIDS was 1 in 3,000 and  New Zealand's was 1 in 200, both where seemingly higher then the USA ratio (Stassen Berger, 2009). Being able to take a closer look at the different cultures with lower ratio for SIDS has allowed doctors and scientist to come up with several facts to the prevention of SIDS. 

When a study was conducted in Bangladeshi infants, who have a low SIDS ratio, they found out several interesting facts to aid in preventing SIDS. One fact that they discovered was that the infants in Bangladesh were mostly breast feed. They also found that the infants were frequently surrounded by their families, even during times of sleep (Stassen Berger, 2009). Due to the families always being around the Bangladeshi infants were less likely to get long periods of sleep at the same time (Stassen Berger, 2009). They find that there was a correlation between the findings of the study of Bangladeshi infants and Chinese infants. The Chinese infants also experienced a lower chance of dying from SIDS. When studying the interactions between the Chinese mothers and infants they found some similar findings to that of Bangladesh studies. The Chinese infants were also, in most cases, breast feed. The Chinese mothers would also engage with their infant while the infant was sleeping. They would touch the infant or rearrange the way the infant was sleeping. It was through the study of the Chinese that doctors began to see the importance of placing infants to sleep on their backs and not on their stomachs or sides. It has been through these studies and studies of other cultures that doctors are able to say that breast feeding, infant sleeping on their backs, and the use of a pacifier are all great preventive measures for SIDS. Even though there are preventive measures for SIDS, there are still some environmental issues that can still lead to SIDS. Some of those environmental issues are families with low SES, parents who choose to smoke around the infant,  overdressing the infant at night, teenage mothers, formula feeding, and low birthweight (Stassen Berger, 2009). After finding these facts, doctors in the Untied States were able to dramatically decrease infants who died of SIDS (Stassen Berger, 2009).

I found this study to be very informative. It shows the importance of branching out from our own comfort zones and learning from those who are around us. What if the doctors and scientist never decided to branch out and study the measures that other cultures took to prevent SIDS? Would the ratio of infants who died of SIDS be lowering, or would it be higher then ever? We need to be willing to learn from one another. I am personally thankful for these doctors and scientist efforts, because I can now take measures and certain precautions to prevent my infant from dying of SIDS. Even though there are still more studies to come, it is good to know that we are on the right track.

References
 

Stassen Berger, Kathleen. (2009). The Developing Person through childhood 5^th edition. New York, NY: Worth Publishers