by Tammie Kuhn

Created on: December 31, 2008

Sleep Apnea is a condition in which the subject stops breathing during their sleep. These episodes can last from a few seconds, to a few minutes - long enough to cause death. It occurs in people of every age, and is relatively easy to treat and diagnose in older subjects. In newborns, the presence of apnea is harder to determine. Premature newborns (prior to 34 weeks) are even more prone to apnea episodes than full term (40 weeks) infants. Although the specific cause of SIDS is undetermined by the medical community, it is expected that Apnea accounts for most of the "unexplained" SIDS deaths in children under 9 months old.

When my first son was born, I was terrified of SIDS. During my pregnancy, a colleague lost her infant son to SIDS. To say this was devastating is a great understatement. I slept with my little one in his bassinet next next to my bed for months, with my hand on his chest. It sounds a bit bizarre, but I couldn't sleep knowing that my baby could die; that was how strongly the death of my colleague's baby affected me. I used a baby monitor for naps, I researched the monitors available at the time, and found one that had a very sensitive microphone on the base unit, I could actually hear him breathe from other rooms of the house. This is the same monitor I used for my daughter as well. I'm happy to report that once my daughter was born, I had done enough research to be able to sleep without touching her, but it was still a little difficult for me. I'm fortunate that I have two healthy pre-teens now.

After my third and last child was born at 36 weeks, he spent two weeks in the NICU. I experienced apnea first hand; I saw his heart rate drop, and his skin turn a light shade of blue. It was the most singularly terrifying experience I've ever known. I was very lucky that he only suffered a few bouts of apnea early on, and he was released from the hospital with a clean bill of health. No home monitoring system was prescribed. To be frank, I panicked. How was I going to keep my tiny child safe?

Traditional baby monitors only allow you to "hear" what is happening in the child's room. As I witnessed first hand, apnea isn't a noisy event, the subject simply stops breathing. Hospitals do have monitors which are available for home use; they require the use of electrodes and can be difficult to set up and use. They are also very expensive to rent unless there is a valid medical reason (according to the insurance company) fo their use. In this case, you receive

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