In a typical situation parents check on their supposedly sleeping infant to find him or her dead. This
is the worse tragedy parents can face, a tragedy which leaves them with a sadness and a feeling of
vulnerability that lasts throughout their lives. Since medicine can not tell them why their baby died,
they blame themselves and often other innocent people. Their lives and those around them are
changed forever.
Remember Olivia
SIDS Information
What is SIDS?
SIDS Prevention
Unfortunately, we cannot expect to prevent all SIDS deaths now. To do so requires a much greater understanding of SIDS,
which will be achieved only with a commitment from those who value babies and with a considerably expanded research
effort. However, there are things that can be done to reduce the risk of SIDS.
Parents-To-Be
1. Get medical care early in pregnancy, preferably within the first three months, followed by regular checkups at the doctor's
office or health clinic. Make every effort to assure good nutrition. These measures can reduce the risk of premature birth, a
major risk factor for SIDS.
2. Do not smoke, use cocaine, or use heroin. Tobacco, cocaine, or heroin use during pregnancy increases the infant's risk for
SIDS.
3. Take care to prevent becoming pregnant during the teenage years. If you are a teen and already have one infant, take
extreme caution not to become pregnant again. The SIDS rate decreases for babies born to older mothers. It is highest for
babies born to teenage mothers. The more babies a teen mother has, the greater at risk they are.
4. Wait at least one year between the birth of a child and the next pregnancy. The shorter the interval between pregnancies,
the higher the SIDS rate.
SIDS is the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which
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,
1991).
