SIDS - Risk Factors

SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is a medical term which is diagnosed when an infant suddenly dies under unexplained circumstances after all known and possible causes have been carefully ruled out through autopsy, death scene investigation and review of the medical history.

This refers to children from birth or one month of age to one year of age.
In the USA 150,000 babies died from SIDS which means that 7,000 babies die each year and nearly one baby every hour of every day.
That makes SIDS responsible for more deaths than any other cause in childhood.
Families of all races, ethnic and socioeconomic origins are affected without warning because parents and physicians can't predict that something is going to happen because most SIDS victims appear healthy prior to death.
Below we give you specific risk factors that can be seen in research relating to SIDS for parents that have babies in a high-risk category.
SIDS risk factors: *Boys are more likely to die from SIDS.

*Young and inexperienced parents should increase their parental care. The highest risk is absence of support from family and friends and late or non regular parental care checks.
*All kinds of addictions (smoking, drinking alcohol and drugs) consider to be one of the main factors to SIDS.
*Premature born babies are at a high risk of SIDS because they are under developed and weak.
*Pregnant minors and women younger than 20 are at risk of having their baby die from SIDS due to their inexperience or unintentional neglect.

These risk factors don't cause SIDS but can have a negative effect on infant well-being. It is known that two thirds of SIDS victims have none of risk factors and that most infants with one or more of these risk factors will not die from SIDS.
There are many support groups for parents who have lost a child to SIDS which help them through the grieving process.

It is important to make yourself aware of these risk factors and take more care about safe sleeping to reduce a chance of losing a child to SIDS. There are some sleeping devices that should improve baby sleep safety, called baby sleep positioners.
Consult with a pediatrician if you should get one for your baby.