by Aly Mae

Created on: February 16, 2009   Last Updated: February 17, 2009

The sudden death of an infant in the first year of life for which no other explanation can be found, can be quite upsetting and raise a few questions. Unfortunately Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) does exist, and for decades doctors and scientists have been doing extensive research into the cause. However, although some possibilities have been found and suggestions for prevention offered, the exact cause has not been discovered. Yet, with almost 2500 deaths in the United States per year alone, SIDS remains the leading cause of infant deaths today. Now in my opinion, this is 2500 too many! Hopefully, with the help of ever advancing technology, scientists will soon figure out the mystery.

Over the years the total number of SIDS deaths has decreased from 5,417 in 1990, to only 2,246 in 2004, but still strikes almost 1 out of every 1400 babies. Even though scientists have not been able to determine the cause, they have been able to discover that 90% of SIDS deaths occur within the first six months of life, peaking between two and four. It is said at this age sleeping and waking patterns are still being established. Through studies and calculations they have also figured out that more boys tend to die than girls, while African and Native Americans are twice and three times likelier to die, respectively. Scientists also believe that cold weather increases incidents. Maybe it is because when babies are that young, parents are afraid they will get cold and bundle them too much or too tight. They say that babies tend to sleep deeper when warm and may fail to arouse normally.

With years of study and research, scientists have been able to name many risk factors for SIDS, but are still not convinced that one single risk factor alone is dangerous enough to result in death. More likely is the fact that several combined could be the cause. Some of the risks found have more to do with the mother such as smoking, drinking, or taking illegal drugs during pregnancy. All these things can be harmful to an unborn fetus and very possibly affect them after birth. In one study, infants of mothers who smoked during pregnancy were three times more likely to die of SIDS than those with smoke-free mothers. Also, mothers younger than 20 have seemed a risk. Finally on the mother, it is believed that poor prenatal care can be responsible for SIDS also. Several other risk factors include hypoxia-lack of oxygen, prematurely or low birth rate, smoke exposure following birth, overheating, and

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