Thousands of families lose their newest additions every year to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. While no cure exists, there are things you can do to lower the risk.
No other happiness can compare with the joy a parent feels holding the
newest addition to their family. At the same time, no sadness can compare to
the loss of an infant. Compound that loss with no explanation as to why the
child passed, and the mourning process becomes nearly insurmountable. Year
after year, thousands of parent experience both the joy of a new arrival and
the loss of their child—all within approximately the same amount of time it
took for that baby to come into the world.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is an all-too-common problem that leads
to devastating results. While there are no explanations as to the cause of
SIDS, nor are there any “cures” or sure-fire ways to prevent it from happening
to your family, there are some things that you can do to help lower the risks
your newborn faces.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Every definition that you come across for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome will
have one characteristic in common: there is no explanation for why the child
passed away. Most definitions follow this simple verbage:
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is the sudden death of an infant under one year
of age that remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including
performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review
of the clinical history. (Willinger et al, 1998)
In their pamphlet titled “What Is SIDS”, The National SIDS/Infant Death
Resource Center further qualifies SIDS as a major cause of death among infants,
sudden and silent, associated with sleep, a recognized medical disorder, and
determined only after a thorough case examination. Additionally, the pamphlet
states that SIDS is not child abuse or neglect, suffocation, caused by vomiting
or spitting up, contagious, the cause of every unexpected death of a child, or
preventable.
Unfortunately, medical advances have yet to unlock the mystery behind SIDS.
Theories abound as to what the cause may be, but no solid evidence linking SIDS
to one or more causes can be established. But that doesn’t mean that parents
should spend sleepless nights carefully monitoring their infants. There are
many things that you can do to prevent this tragedy from striking your family.