{"id":241,"date":"2015-12-11T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T00:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brooksidepress.org\/ob-ped\/?page_id=241"},"modified":"2023-08-20T22:10:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T22:10:00","slug":"3-18-sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/brooksidepress.org\/ob-ped\/lessons\/lesson-3-pediatric-emergencies\/section-iv-pediatric-emergencies\/3-18-sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids\/","title":{"rendered":"3-18. SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS)"},"content":{"rendered":"

a. Appropriate Title<\/strong>. Sudden infant death syndrome, sometimes\u00a0known as “crib\u00a0death,” is the sudden, unexplained death of an infant without any warning.<\/p>\n

SIDS usually\u00a0occurs in apparently normal, healthy infants. Currently, no one is sure how to prevent\u00a0the death of an infant from SIDS. A thorough autopsy afterward fails to reveal the\u00a0cause of death.<\/p>\n

SIDS kills about 10,000 infants each year, the infants being between\u00a0the ages of 1 week and 12 months. A number of theories have been proposed to\u00a0explain SIDS, but no one has been able to positively identify the cause.<\/p>\n

b. Actions Following an Infant’s Death<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

(1) Initiate CPR. Even though the infant may have been dead for some\u00a0time, initiating and continuing CPR until you reach the hospital allows the family to feel\u00a0that everything possible was done.<\/p>\n

(2) Provide support. Give the family support and help relieve their feelings\u00a0by guilt. Parents of a child who has died from SIDS often feel very guilty. Remind these\u00a0parents that SIDS happens to babies who seem to be very healthy and who are\u00a0receiving the best parental care.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: Although the specific cause of death is not frequently identified, there are a number of risk factors associated with SIDS. The vast majority of (95%) of SIDS occurrences are associated with one or more of these:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Maternal factors:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n