Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Every Parent's Worse Nightmare

    The Mayo Clinic defines Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) simply as the unexplained death of a child. This definition is not specific, but that is because we do not know a lot about SIDS. Typically infants that die of SIDS are under a year old, healthy, and simply pass away in their cribs, asleep. Despite there not being a lot known about the ailment, around 2,300 babies in the United States die of SIDS each year, a rate much higher than other countries.  While SIDS is the death of a child under a year old, it is most common in an infant between one and four months. It is more common in boys than girls, and most deaths occur in the fall, winter, and early spring. 

 The specific cause of SIDS is not known. However, there are some theories as to how to explain it. According to the National Institute of Health, researchers have found problems in the brains of babies who have died from SIDS. In some cases, there was a problem in the network of nerves that control breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and waking form sleep. Other researchers theorize that changes in the genes of an infant mat cause problem with the body functions previously mentioned. Some infants who have died from SIDS have even been found with high levels of serotonin in their blood, suggesting that this may play a role. However, despite this research, the physiological etiology of SIDS is still unknown. In addition, there is no current way to detect any of these problems the a baby is still alive. 

https://safetosleep.nichd.nih.gov/about/causes

    To help combat SIDS related deaths, researchers use the Triple Risk Model to suggest and understand how SIDS deaths may occur. This model involves infant vulnerability, the critical development period, and outside stressors.  

    Infant vulnerability could be due to low birth weight, fetal abstinence syndrome, premature birth, or other reasons not yet known. Environmental stressors that can potentially lead to SIDs include tobacco smoke, getting tangled in/suffocating in bedding, a minor illness, and breathing obstruction. 

    

    Since SIDS often occurs when infants are asleep, many SIDS prevention straggles center around safe sleeping. Avoiding co-sleeping and soft sleeping surfaces are some of the ways to prevent SIDS. Infants should sleep on their back on a firm surface. with as little loose material as possible.

    SIDS related deaths have declined in the United States since the release of the "Back to Sleep Campaign." This campaign began in 1994, named after its primary recommendation that all infants sleep on their back to reduce risk of SIDS. However, despite this and other interventions, SIDS rates in the US are still high, especially in African American and Indigenous American populations. Some of this is due to defiance against certain guidelines, particularly that regarding co-sleeping, while it can also be contributed to the systemic health decline in these communities.