United States: The newborns who unexpectedly stop breathing come to be exposed to many risk factors that undoubtedly were the cause of their deaths.
It has been established that three-fourths (76 percent) of the Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID) are related to multiple unsafe sleeping practices.
A study reveals the common unsafe practices
These are, such as sharing the bed with another person, sleeping with stuffy objects that may choke, sleeping on their tummy or side, and sleeping outside the crib.
Dr. Fern Hauck, a senior researcher and a safe sleep expert at the University of Virginia School of Medicine said, “The large number of hazardous sleep practices for both infants who were sharing a sleep surface and sleeping alone at the time of death is alarming,” US News reported.
More about the study
The study was undertaken by the researchers who analyzed the almost 7579 infant sleeping death (SUID) cases that happened in the US between 2011 and 2020.
As many as 3 out of 5 (60 percent) of the SUID cases were infants who shared a sleep surface when they died which research discovered.
The critical aspect, in this case, is that the baby could get accidentally strangled and crushed to death by an adult or even another child who would roll on them while not noticing what is happening, as scientific research has ratified.
Infants who died with a sleep surface shared usually were as well placed to sleep in an adult bed (76 percent), had soft bedding in the environment (68 percent), and slept on the belly side or the side (47 percent).
Hauck added, “These are known risk factors for SUID, and tells us that we need to do a better job of working with families to increase acceptance of the recommendations to create safer sleep spaces for their infants.”
What do the experts recommend?
Sleep professionals suggest that babies sleep by themselves on their backs in a crib and use a fitted sheet only, with no extra sheets, blankets, pillows, or other baby bedding accessories or toys.
Any soft toys, bumpers, wedges, or blankets might increase infants’ risk of suffocation, and babies who sleep on their backs reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), based on the findings of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Know more about SIDS and SUID
SIDS is known as the abrupt death of an infant that does not have a clear cause. SUID covers both SIDS and deaths attributed to other causes like unintended strangulation or face compression in the bed.
Among the dead babies who were alone at the time of decease, the following figures can be noticed: they were lying either on their stomachs or sides (62 percent) and soft bedding pieces were present in most of the cases (74 percent), results say.
It was 52 percent who were in a crib and 22 percent were in an adult bed.
According to the US News reports, the results demonstrate that additional effort should be put into explaining safe-sleeping practices to parents right before they leave the hospital, and then follow up with them and ensure that they remember those instructions at any given opportunity, Hauck stated.
Furthermore, he added, “SUID deaths in the U.S. are still higher than in most other countries, and this is unacceptable,” and, “Clinicians and others caring for infants need to have thoughtful conversations with families at risk to understand the barriers to following safe-sleep guidelines and find ways to work together to overcome them.”
In addition, hospitals can suggest impoverished families where they can find help in acquiring a crib or bassinet for their firstborn.