Child Development and Public Health

I recently just took a professional development class on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and learned about the many ways to help reduce the risks that can cause such heartache. During the first several months it is important to keep the child in the same room as the parents but on a separate surface to reduce the possibility of strangulation, suffocation and even entrapment. I also found out the connection between breastfed babies and how that also reduces the risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. It can fight against infection, reduces respiratory infections, reduces reflux and even promotes safer sleep, along with many other benefits.

I also found it extremely odd that the United States and New Zealand have the highest SIDS rates compared to all other countries. For such developed countries I figured it would have been the lowest rates. Also the age of inclusion for SIDS is different across all countries. “Some countries (Canada, England and Wales, Germany, and Scotland) define SIDS as occurring from one week to one year. Other countries include infants from birth to one year (Argentina, Australia, Austria, France, Ireland, Japan, Sweden, and the U.S.) or birth to over one year (the Netherlands and New Zealand). This may account for at most a small difference in SIDS rates since the number of SIDS deaths occurring in the first week of life and after one year are very small” (Hauck & Tanabe). Throughout the years there has been a significant reduction in SIDS deaths around the world but still have some shocking rates due to some countries not getting proper risk reduction activites.

Reference

Hauck, F. R., & Tanabe, K. (n.d.). International Trends in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and ... Retrieved from https://www.ispid.org/fileadmin/user_upload/textfiles/articles/CPR17_Hauck_SIDS_Trends.pdf