> From High SIDS Risk Found in Bed Sharing
> Nearly half slept in bed with someone else
>
> By Neil Sherman, at
http://www.iwon.com/home/health/health_article/0,11720,102150|09-06-2000::13
:00,00.html
>"HealthSCOUT Reporter A study of 119 infant deaths in the St. Louis area
>reveals that almost half of the deaths happened when the babies slept
>with their mothers,
> fathers, siblings or babysitters, the researchers say. And in more than
> 75 percent of the cases the baby died in an adult bed, a sofa or an
> easy chair.
>
> "What we tried to do in this study is point out other risk factors that
> have been only recently recognized as risk factors for SIDS," says Dr.
> Bradley Thach, a professor of pediatrics at the Washington University
> School of Medicine in St. Louis and an author of the study. "Prior to
> this research we did not know how important some of these risk
> factors are."
> Thach and his colleagues reviewed death scene information and
> medical examiners' examinations between 1974 and the end of 1997
> looking for a diagnosis of SIDS, accidental suffocation, or an
> undetermined cause of death in infants under the age of 2. Of the 119
> cases, 88 had a SIDS diagnosis, while accidental suffocation was the
> reason for 16 deaths. Medical examiners could not find a cause for
> death in the remaining 15 children.
>
> "In total, in over 75 percent of the deaths, the baby died in a sleep
> environment not designed for infants, such as a sofa, an overstuffed
> chair or an adult bed," Thach says. "And in 60 percent of the babies,
> they were found on their stomachs. Either someone had put them
> down to sleep on their stomach or they had rolled from their sides to
> their stomachs."
Am I correct in assuming that this article infers that there is a
correlation between location of infant's sleep space and death by SIDS? It
also points out that babies die when they are sleeping, which they do a lot
of the time. ... : /. How many adults die in their sleep? I mean, should I
not go to bed tonight?
However, folks, this is not data that proves a cause and effect
relationship, necessarily. There are deaths by suffocation, etc, that are
related to location, I am sure. However, the spin that this article ( which
is much longer than above) is that bedsharing is directly correlated with
an increase in SIDS. From what I have learned from Jim McKenna's research,
which is the premiere research on this subject, in my opinion, this is not
the case.
Why did they not ask Jim? They used the following sources:
SOURCES: Interviews with Bradley Thach, M.D., professor of pediatrics,
Washington
University School of Medicine, St. Louis; and Betty McEntire, Ph.D., executive
director, American SIDS Institute, Marietta Ga.; September 2000 Pediatrics
I read something recently that if it was found that a lot of people ate
bread on the day they died, one could infer that there is a high risk of
eating bread. However, it does not mean that bread causes an increased risk
of death in those that eat bread. It just means that there is a
correlation. No cause and effect, but it sure can sound convincing if the
spin is placed in the right part of the article.
GEESH. I know that some babies die from preventable causes, some being too
soft couches, suffocation on edges of water beds, etc, but to say that SIDS
deaths are increased by cosleeping is not scientifically factual. I will
ask my friend Jim McKenna about this. If he consents, I will post his
response.
Kathleen
Kathleen B. Bruce, BSN, IBCLC co-owner Lactnet, Indep. Consultant
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://homepages.together.net/~kbruce/kbblact.html
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