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ST. LOUIS, October 10,
2002 —
Washington
University specialists in newborn
medicine at St. Louis Children's Hospital (SLCH) continue to encourage parents to make sure
their babies sleep on their backs -- not their tummies -- to reduce
the risk of SIDS or "sudden infant death syndrome."
Doctors at SLCH are working
on a new version of an old practice -- swaddling -- wrapping infants snugly in
multiple cloths -- to assure back sleeping.
Dr. Brad Thach recently
directed a study of 37 infants -- including nine who were said to be fussy
unless placed on their stomachs. All the infants were wrapped in a special
swaddling made of cotton, spandex and Velcro. “Traditionally around the
world, swaddled babies are always on their backs. We thought that in
swaddling a baby we might get babies to sleep well – particularly those whose
mothers say they don’t sleep on their backs. We’ve been successful in that
– in the group that we’ve studied,” Thach says.
Of the nine stomach sleepers, seven were calmed enough to sleep on their backs. The study was published recently
in the Journal of Pediatrics. The type of swaddle used in the study is not yet
commercially available, but Thach said that new parents could employ other techniques to reduce the
risk of SIDS. He explained that many cases are caused by suffocation, which
can occur if an infant's breathing becomes obstructed against soft bedding or by
blankets.
“The best way we think to
reduce SIDS risk – over and above just back sleeping – is to take all kinds of
loose bedding out of the crib; to have a firm mattress beneath the baby, because
when a baby gets to a point where they spontaneously turn over from the back,
they may have difficulties adapting to this new bedding. If it is soft,
that could pose a risk for SIDS and/or suffocation,” Thach says.
A campaign in the United States to encourage back sleeping
in infants one year of age and under has been successful in reducing the
incidence of SIDS by 50 percent over the last decade. Thach says studies
of infant deaths in other countries, where back sleeping is the norm, indicate
that an even greater reduction could be achieved. “By using back
sleeping, in countries where they have less than 5 percent of babies who are
placed prone, they’ve reduced their SIDS incidents from 70 to 85 percent – some
places reportedly even higher,” Thach stated. He also added that some
infants who die unexpectedly in their
sleep suffer from previously undetected medical problems. But with the incidence of
SIDS declining, the evidence is clear that steps such as
back sleeping and removal of soft bedding can reduce the risk.
St. Louis Children’s
Hospital has provided specialized care for children for more than 120
years. St. Louis Children’s Hospital is affiliated with Washington
University School of Medicine, one of the top five medical schools in the
country. WashingtonUniversity is known for excellence in medical research,
teaching and patient care. St. Louis Children’s Hospital also is a member
of BJC HealthCare, the first fully integrated healthcare system in the country
to join an academic medical center with suburban, rural and metropolitan-based
healthcare facilities.
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