More on the article I cited which posits a conflict between anti-cot 
death campaigns and breastfeeding support.

The article is entitled 'BED SHARING - is it worth the risk?' 
(terrible title, IMO, but it happens to be the title of a lecture 
given in London, Sept 2012, by Prof Ed Mitchell from the University 
of Auckland). It is written by Chloe Harris,  the assistant editor of 
Community Practitioner journal, and the ref is November 2012, Volume 
85, No. 11.

The article is a report on that lecture.

Prof Mitchell is strongly pro a simple public health message - don't 
bed share. No nuances, no exceptions. 'The safest place for a baby to 
sleep is in a cot beside the parental bed' he says. This is echoed by 
the UK's main cot death charity, FSID, whose chair says 'if we all 
came together to convey this one simple message we could make inroads 
in reducing unexplained deaths'.

However, she goes on to acknowledge that 'the majority of deaths now 
occur in the most vulnerable and socially deprived families'.

The author of the article says 'the biggest opponent to Mitchell and 
FSID's message is the breastfeeding lobby'.

FSID say 'some people hold the view that the benefits of 
breastfeeding  trump all other risks [HWN: I don't think this is true 
that people hold quite that view] and that warning against the 
dangers of bed sharing is not helpful to mothers coping with the 
practicalities of feeding on demand through the night. But as a 
charity whose sole remit is to reduce cot death rates, we feel very 
strongly that parents should be made aware of all the risks 
associated with bed sharing so that they can make an informed choice.'

To which I would make 2 points:

* an informed choice includes knowing where your risk reduces to 
almost zero  - but that is not part of the 'one simple message'

* it's this declared 'sole remit' ,  this one, single, 
narrowly-focussed aim, that is preventing FSID from setting their 
concerns in a *wider* health and social context


They perhaps cannot campaign against poverty and deprivation, because 
of this limiting 'sole remit'.  But if poverty and deprivation were 
reduced, even a litte bit, SIDS/SUDI rates would fall....and there'd 
be less need to terrify the bejabers out of people who would 
otherwise bed share with virtually no risk at all, and who would then 
reap the benefits of a better night's rest and higher rates of 
breastfeeding.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK



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