April 2001 - The Associated Press reported that new mothers who don't breastfeed
and those who smoke after giving birth place their babies at strong
risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, government researchers said
Monday.
Placing babies on their backs for sleep has long been the focus of
the campaign to prevent SIDS, which kills about 3,000 infants each
year.
But a study presented at a Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention conference in Atlanta suggests that breast-feeding and
protecting babies from secondhand smoke may be just as important.
The study of 117 SIDS cases in Louisiana in 1997 and 1998 found 55
percent of the deaths could have been prevented had the mothers
breast-fed their children. Studies have shown breast-feeding can
help prevent respiratory problems sometimes related to SIDS.
The study also said 27 percent of the deaths could have been
prevented if mothers had not smoked after delivery, exposing their
children to secondhand smoke.
The link between sleeping position and SIDS was low enough in the
study to be deemed statistically insignificant, the authors said.
SIDS - the name coined for unexpected deaths of seemingly healthy
babies - kills more infants each year than cancer, heart disease,
pneumonia and AIDS combined. Its precise cause has puzzled scientists
for decades.
SIDS deaths have dropped by about 40 percent since 1994, when the
American Academy of Pediatrics launched a "Back to Sleep" campaign
to encourage parents not to place infants on their stomachs at
bedtime.
But the SIDS death rate appeared to begin leveling off in the late
1990s.
"The 'Back to Sleep' campaign may have been effective ... but
increasing 'Back to Sleep' will not eliminate SIDS," said John
Painter, a CDC epidemiologist who led the study.
Judy Jacobson, executive vice president of the SIDS Alliance, said
placing infants on their backs remains the best way to prevent SIDS.
"There are still large pockets of the population in the United
States that do not know about this recommendation - or if they do,
have decided not to follow it,'" Jacobson said.
Critics at the conference pointed out that the study excluded the
possible link between deaths and the firmness of a child's bedding.
The bedding data was thrown out because it was unreliable, Painter
said
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