I just received the following MCH Alert and thought I'd pass it along to
all of you.

Kathleen Fallon Pasakarnis,MS,LLL,2001 IBCLC candidate


http://www.ncemch.org/alert

MCH Alert
Tomorrow's Policy Today
National Center for Maternal and Child Health

SLEEPING ON STOMACH AND BED-SHARING ASSOCIATED WITH SUDDEN INFANT DEATHS,
SUGGESTS STUDY

Infants placed to sleep on their stomachs (prone position) are more likely
to die inexplicably than those placed to sleep on their backs (supine
position) indicates a study published in the February issue of the Journal
of Pediatrics. The authors of the study looked at how sleep position, bed-
sharing, and the American Academy of Pediatrics Back to Sleep campaign have
influenced the rate of sudden infant deaths.

For the study, the authors reviewed the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner
database to identify infants under age 1 who died between January 1, 1986,
and September 30, 1999. They identified 217 such cases.

According to the study findings,

*64.1% of the deaths were classified as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
deaths
*62.7% of the infants were found or reported to be in the prone position,
*At the time of their death, 89.1% of the infants had been sleeping in the
prone position, had been bed-sharing, or both,
*Infant deaths associated with supine or side sleeping were more likely to
be classified as deaths resulting from a natural cause other than SIDS,
compared to deaths associated with prone sleeping, and
*The proportion of sudden infant deaths associated with prone sleeping fell
slightly between 1994 and 1999 (after the introduction of the Back to Sleep
campaign in 1994) compared to the period 1986 to 1993.

Sudden infant deaths are just as likely to be associated with the prone
position today as they were in 1986, and bed-sharing appears to increase
the proportion of unexplained infant deaths, state the authors. However,
they conclude that the Back to Sleep campaign seems to be effective in
reducing the number of sudden infant deaths.

Thogmartin JR, Siebert CF, Pellan WA, 2001. Sleep position and bed-sharing
in sudden infant deaths: An examination of autopsy findings. The Journal of
Pediatrics 138(2):212-217.

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