Many Parents Aren't Protecting Thier Babies From SIDS

Nearly half of all babies in some parts of the United States face a greater risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) simply because their parents are neglecting to put them on their backs when they sleep, a new study suggests.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is a mysterious problem seen in newborn children that results in tragic and largely inexplicable infant fatalities. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and  Prevention (CDC), it is the leading cause of death among infants between one month and one year of age. Back in 2010, more than 2,000 infants died from this problem.

"Although the precise cause of SIDS is still unknown, we do know that safe sleep practices, such as sleeping on the back, reduces the risk of infant death in the first year of life," Sunah S. Hwang, MD, neonatologist at Boston Children's Hospital and South Shore Hospital, and instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, said in a recent American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) press release.

She explained that placing an infant on their back is known to reduced the chances of SIDS by an estimated 50 percent, and has resulted in a decline in SIDS cases in the U.S. for the last couple decades.

However, according to a study recently conducted by Hwang and her colleagues, rates of children being placed on their back to sleep are as low as 50 percent in some states.

Hwang presented these findings on Saturday at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

Analyzing data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System -- a state-based survey program launched by the CDC to monitor the experiences of new mothers -- only 50 percent of children in some states were being placed on their backs when sleeping.

In an assessment of more than 390,000 infants, the researchers determined that states ranged from 80 percent of infants on their backs to a mere 50, depending on region demographics. Most alarmingly, more delicate premature babies -- when finally allowed to be taken home -- were found to be the least likely on their backs, with the national average being only 60 percent of all pre-term babies sleeping on their backs.

The study was presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada, on May 3.

An accompanying AAP press release was published on May 3.