>I am confused. In one of the paragraphs it states that new research shows
>that more than half of SIDS deaths happen when the baby sleeps with its
>parents. Where in the world did this research come from? I have never heard this
>anywhere? Anyone else??
Well, frankly, I was mighty confused too. Because one summary of the statement said,
>For example, SIDS has been associated with
>prone sleep position, maternal smoking, soft mattresses, and bedding
>near the baby that could cover the head. Avoidable exceptions in which
>bedsharing itself has been associated with an increased risk of SIDS
>include the use of particularly unsafe furniture (e.g., couches, which
>are associated with a 25-fold increased risk of SIDS) and parent smoking
>or incapacitation due to alcohol or drug use, or exhaustion.
Now, I had always thought that soft mattresses, bedding covering the head, unsafe furniture, and a compromised adult were all risk factors for ***suffocation***, which is by definition absolutely *not* SIDS. So what the heck are they doing in a policy statement on SIDS, that gets reported across the country as a statement on ways to reduce SIDS?
There's a slippery little paragraph on page 2 of the AAP statement: "Postneonatal mortality rates of several other causes of sudden unexpected infant death have increased significantly, particularly over the years 1999-2001. These observations increase the likelihood that some deaths previously classified as SIDS are now being classified in other categories and the true SIDS rate since 1999 may be static. Categories of SIDS have been proposed with the intent to be more inclusive and reduce potential diagnostic shift. This proposal requires more discussion at the national level."
Fine. But you don't change the definition of SIDS in advance of that discussion, and without alerting the public to the implications of that change. That's playing fast and loose with clearly established definitions. The AAP statement is *not* about SIDS. It's about "sudden unexpected infant death." We don't drop the SIDS rate by reducing suffocation risks. Although the word "suffocation" occurs 6 times in references and twice in the charts, the word appears *only once* in the 8-page text of the policy statement. Beyond that single reference, suffocation and SIDS are blithely intermingled, and the public discovers that compromised adults and soft bedding are risk factors for "SIDS" and co-sleeping itself becomes a "SIDS" risk. Ick.
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC Ithaca, NY USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com
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