Who Is at Risk for SIDS? Most SIDS deaths happen in babies between 1 and 4 months old, and cases rise during cold weather. Babies might have a higher risk of SIDS if: their mother smoked, drank, or used drugs during pregnancy and after birth.
SUDI in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants
There is a large gap in infant and child mortality between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians. SUDI has been reported as a predominant cause of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infant death.
SUID is the sudden death of an infant that has occurred as a result of accidental suffocation in a sleeping environment, SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), or from an unknown cause of death. Nationally, non-Hispanic Black (NHB) infants have twice the risk of SUID compared to non-Hispanic White (NHW) infants.
Sleeping position: Sleeping on the stomach is a major risk factor for SIDS. Side sleeping is also a risk factor because infants may turn to their stomachs after being placed on their sides. One theory is that stomach sleeping increases the risk of the infant rebreathing his or her own exhaled air.
The potential factors that contribute to the occurrence of SIDS include inadequate prenatal care, low birth weight (<2499gr), premature infants, intrauterine growth delay, short interval between pregnancies and maternal substance use (tobacco, alcohol, opiates).
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of death among infants between 1 month and 1 year of age. Even though SIDS can occur any time during a baby's first year, most SIDS deaths occur in babies between 1 and 4 months of age.
Year after the year, Japan is one of the countries with one of the lowest infant mortality rates. There are a few reasons why this may be: They have lower rates of maternal smoking and alcohol consumption — and research has shown that both maternal smoking and prenatal drinking increase a child's SIDS risk.
Infants (children under 1 year) had the highest rate of death in all jurisdictions in 2020, accounting for 59% of all child deaths in Australia. Rates of infant deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and undetermined causes ranged between 0.16 and 0.52 per 1,000 live births.
The rate of SIDS deaths per 100,000 live births has declined in Australia since the beginning of national public education campaigns about risk factors associated with SIDS in 1991 (AIHW 2012). Between 2007 and 2017 the rate declined from 28 per 100,000 to 6 in 2017, following a peak in 2009 of 32 per 100,000.
Sweden. Sweden has a very low SIDS rate (0.14 per 1,000 live births in 2015) (Figure 20.1). In cases of sudden unexpected infant death, a thorough autopsy including both a comprehensive histological examination of all organs and a neuropathological examination is performed.
SUID rates per 100,000 live births were lowest among non-Hispanic White infants (83.6), Hispanic infants (56.4), and non-Hispanic Asian infants (22.6).
Studies have shown that higher rates occur among low-income families. Researchers behind a 1995 Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health study analyzed data from five census periods between 1971 and 1991, and discovered that low-income families had three times the rate of SIDS than families in upper-income brackets.
Health Services Agency
Male babies are more likely to die from SIDS than female babies.
SIDS risk by age
The NICHD notes that SIDS is most common when an infant is between 1–4 months old. Additionally, more than 90% of SIDS deaths occur before the age of 6 months old. The risk of SIDS reduces after an infant is 8 months old.
In 2020, the SUID rate was 92.9 deaths per 100,000 live births. In recent years, SUID is being classified less often as SIDS, and more often as ASSB or unknown cause. SIDS rates declined considerably from 130.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 38.4 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020.
Scientists in Australia have found that some babies at risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, have low levels of an enzyme called butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) in their blood.
Breastfeeding has been shown to reduce the occurrence of SIDS by over 50 percent by improving the immune system, promoting brain growth, reducing reflux and a variety of other factors.
Bed-sharing increases a baby's risk of dying from SIDS, especially in preterm infants (preemies), babies who had a low birth weight, and healthy full-term infants younger than 4 months old. Other things that increase this risk of death while bed-sharing include: a baby sleeping on a couch alone or with a parent.
SIDS has no symptoms or warning signs. Babies who die of SIDS seem healthy before being put to bed. They show no signs of struggle and are often found in the same position as when they were placed in the bed.
The chance of SIDS occurring is very low, affecting about 0.0001 percent of infants under a year old in India. The cause or causes of SIDS are not known; however, there are steps you can take to create a safe sleep environment for your baby and to help prevent SIDS.
White noise reduces the risk of SIDS.
We DO know that white noise reduces active sleep (which is the sleep state where SIDS is most likely to occur).
SIDS is most common at 2-4 months of age when the cardiorespiratory system of all infants is in rapid transition and therefore unstable. So, all infants in this age range are at risk for dysfunction of neurological control of breathing.