Secondhand Smoke + Bed Sharing RaiseSudden Infant Death (SID) Risk

US Health officials claimed to have helped halve cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) with a campaign that warned parents to keep their babies from sleeping face down.

The SIDS rate didn't decline further, however, indicating that other causes exist, and a new study points to secondhand smoke and bed sharing as significant risk factors.

SIDS causes more than 2,000 deaths each year in the U.S. and is the leading cause of death in children between one month and one year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Remembering that the cause of SIDS is still unknown, a strong correlation has been found between putting a baby to sleep on its stomach and SIDS.

The US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development started the "Back to Sleep" campaign in 1994 to warn parents of the dangers of putting babies to sleep on their stomachs, which helped reduce the rate of SIDS by more than 50 percent since 1988, according to the US federal agency.

The campaign also led to identification of other SIDS risk factors, according to the study. Researchers found that babies who slept in a bed with other people are twice as likely to die from SIDS. The younger the child is, the higher the risk.

"Bed-sharing leads to a 17 or 18 times increase in risk if the baby is less than two or three months old," Rachel Moon, a pediatrician and SIDS researcher at Children's National Medical Center who was not involved with the study, reported.

If the baby is exposed to smoke as well, the risk increases even further.

Other risk factors for SIDS include soft bedding or toys in the crib, sleeping on an adult mattress or couch, sleeping with a blanket or with the head covered. Three out of four SIDS cases had at least one risk factor and 57 percent had at least two, according to the study.

"Most babies had two or more risk factors," Henry Krous, lead author and paediatric pathologist at the San Diego SIDS Research Project, reported. "What that says to us is that 'Back to Sleep' should emphasize multiple risk factors."

Secondhand Smoke, Bed Sharing Raises Sudden Infant Death Risk

Warning that UK NHS Privatisation increases Risk of Cot deaths (SID)

Scottish Sudden Infant death charity for information and support on SIDS.

The number of babies dying from cot death will increase as austerity cuts force vulnerable families into unsuitable living conditions, the head of a Sudden Infant Death (SIDs) charity has warned.

The UK Government's healthcare privatisation will also put babies' lives at risk and vital services will be lost as the NHS is forced to restructure and make cost efficiency savings, according to Francine Bates, chief executive of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID).

She also described the cynical axing of a UK Department of Health leaflet, "Reduce the Risk of Cot death" that was previously sent to every new parent as "very disappointing". The leaflet set out the risks to babies and advised parents on how to minimise the dangers of cot deaths.

Ms Bates said: "If the socio-economic conditions worsen for these vulnerable families then more babies will be at risk. London's Metropolitan Police working in this area [sudden infant death] are saying that the housing conditions some people are living in with their very small babies is atrocious."

The "Back to Sleep" campaign launched in 1991 urged parents to put their babies to sleep on their backs, overturning previous advice from childcare experts. Within five years of the launch of the campaign, unexplained sudden infant deaths had dropped by 70 per cent.

Smoking is now the biggest risk for cot death so Ms Bates has organised the first seminar for researchers and smoking-cessation experts who will meet on Thursday, chaired by Anne Milton, the UK Public Health minister.

Ms Bates said: "Smoking has a massive impact on the health of an unborn baby. If all smokers stopped immediately it would reduce the number of cot deaths by up to 50 per cent."