I thought you might be intersted in hearing about a public service type
announcement being played about hourly at the present on the local
commercial radio station I usually listen to. It is about SIDS and they say
that there are 5 babies a week dying of SIDS in Australia. The announcement
advises parents to 'sleep baby on his/her back or side, keep the baby's
environment smoke-free, don't let baby get too hot, and where possible,
breastfeed'. It was good to see breastfeeding included (even though it
still had the 'if possible' bit) as I have heard that this is not always
included in other countries. It goes on to say that nobody yet knows what
causes SIDS, but that while research is continuing, parents can reduce the
risks by these measures. And since these measures have been publicised, the
rate of SIDS in Australia has been halved. It's odd hearing the word
'breastfeed' on the radio about once an hour!

Joy Anderson IBCLC, NMAA Breastfeeding Counsellor,
Perth, Western Australia
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