Hi all
The study by Scragg et al  "Bed sharing, smoking, and alcohol in the
sudden infant death syndrome" 1993  BMJ 307:1312   (as part of the
New Zealand Cot Death Study Group) found that infants who shared a
bed were at higher risk of SIDS if the mother was a smoker, even when
other confounders were controlled for.

The authors state that for infants of non-smoking mothers, the results
were inconsistent with an increased relative risk for usual bed
sharing in the last two weeks (before death) but not for bed sharing
in the last sleep !
The risks seemed to be greater in Maori mothers who smoked,possibly
because of their socioeconomic circumstances  in many cases  (which
are independed factors in SIDS risk). This is a problem which has
been noted in other displaced cultures. Maureen Minchin's note to
Lactnet on 2 April goes in to this in more detail as well.

Hope this helps

Fiona Coombes MBBS IBCLC               [log in to unmask]
Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia Breastfeeding Counsellor
Lactation Consultant, Family Physician
Perth Western Australia