Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Essay

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome As stated by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) as the name suggests is a sudden, mysterious death of a child who is less than one year old. Furthermore, the mortality remains unexplained even after a complete and extensive examination is done via autopsy, surveying family, and medical histories, and studying the death scene (NICHD, 2017). Myths There are numerous misguided notions about sudden infant death syndrome. One common false belief is that infants can ‘catch’ SIDS. On the contrary, SIDS is not an infection or illness that can be caught or spread. One of the factors that increase the risk of SIDS is secondhand smoke. Infants who are exposed to or live around smokers have higher chances of facing sudden deaths.

Secondly, hyperthermia that may be as a result of overdressing, rise in air temperature, or covering the baby excessively is also a contributory factor to crib-deaths. Moreover, rebreathing stresses is also a cause. When an infant is placed face down, air movement around the mouth is impaired hence the child is at risk of rebreathing the carbon dioxide they have just inhaled (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U. Reduction in rate of SIDS Much progress has been made in decreasing the rate of sudden deaths in infants, with the period between 1992-1999 having the most significant decline. One of the causes of this decline was the ‘Safe to Sleep’ campaign that encouraged children to sleep on their backs instead of their tummies.