Ashleigh Jenks Professor Frailly Hum 220-2W1 26 February 2014 Literature Review

Introduction:

A major problem that comes into focus in both childcare and at home raising of children comes from sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS. SIDS is the sudden death of an infant less than on year of age that remains unexplained even after a thorough case investigation has been conducted. This is a huge problem around the world and the saddest thing is that it can be prevented. The following articles describe ways in which SIDS can be prevented and the current research that is being done to eradicate SIDS deaths.

Body:

Many parents are forced to send their children to a child care provider in order to go to work to provide the right life for their family. When parents leave their most valuable possessions in the hands of someone else they expect them to keep their child safe. In Assessing Child Care Providers SIDS practices Alena Clark and Charlene Auten discuss the reasons behind the decrease in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. A huge

reason that there is a deduction in SIDS related deaths is because many states have adopted a law that states any child under the age of one should be placed on their back to sleep. This law has saved many lives and helped to educate many parents on how important it is to become educated on what sudden infant death syndrome is and how to prevent it. This article also discusses how important it is for child care providers to attend information sessions on the prevention of SIDS. In these information sessions child care providers learn the tools to teach their parents how to prevent sudden infant death syndrome. These ways include, but are not limited to, not bed-sharing, breastfeeding, back-to-sleep, temperature control, pacifiers while sleeping, and having tight sheets on a firm mattress. Many instances of SIDS are caused by the lack of knowledge about SIDS. Once childcare providers know the information they can then pass it on to the parents in order to help prevent SIDS deaths at home.

Rachel Moon talks about who pacifiers can reduce the cases of SIDS in her article titled Pacifier Use and SIDS: Evidence for a consistently reduced risk. When an infant, a child under the age of 12 months, uses a pacifier while sleeping it can reduce the occurrence of SIDS by as much as 90%. The sucking motion allows a child to develop muscles and learn how to breath in different ways than if a child was just laying in the crib without a pacifier. This article examines SIDS deaths and shows that in 75% of cases the infant was not using a pacifier. There are many other factors that can cause SIDS that the following article discuses.

Formative evaluation to improve prevention of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): a prospective study DHalluin discusses new improvements that have been made to prevent SIDS. This article discusses factors such as smoking, alcohol, illegal drug use, low socioeconomic status, younger maternal age, low educational level, and single marital status as factors leading to SIDS. This article points out how people who fit into this categories generally are not educated on what SIDS is and how easily SIDS can happen to anyone. This article offers up a simple solution to the prevention of SIDS and that is education. This article suggests all parents being notified of sudden infant death syndrome, the risk factors, and how to prevent it from happening to their child. This education should be given to those of a low economic status as well as young mothers. A huge factor that many parents do not think of when they think of SIDS is how smoking after being pregnant can effect the infant.

The last article discussed how parents who smoked is a factor that could cause SIDS. Postnatal parenting smoking: an important risk factor for SIDS by Germaine Liebechts-Akkerman goes into detail on how smoking after the child is born can raise the risk of the child developing SIDS. The smell of the smoke on parents clothes can slow a childs breathing and even cause the infant to stop breathing. If the infant is exposed to second-hand smoke the child could develop many other factors that could lead to death. Parents who smoke should make sure that they are educated on how harmful it can be for a child to be around smoking and how it increases the rate of SIDS. There are many factors that can be easily changed in order to prevent sudden infant death syndrome, for example laying a child in their crib on their back to sleep.

Sudden Unexpected Infant deaths: sleep Environment and Circumstances by Patricia Schnitzer discusses the statistics of infants deaths in comparison to their sleep habits. Only 25% of SIDS deaths happened when a child was laying on its back in a crib. 70% of these deaths were caused when an infant was sleeping on a surface not intended for an infant to sleep on for example an adults bed, a boppy, swing, couch, etc. More than 4000 infants die from SIDS each year. This means that 2800 infants die each year just because they are not sleeping in a crib on their back. This article gives great statistics that establish credibility as well as provoke interest. It is very important that a child get laid in their crib to sleep. Many parents over look how risky it is to sleep with their children.

There are many factors that can lead to SIDS that parents simply do not even think about. Carolina Homers article Bed-Sharing With Infants in a Time of SIDS Awareness, talks about one of the most overlooked factors when speaking of SIDS. Parents let their children sleep in the same bed with them for many reasons some may be convieence, some may be for anxiety, and some may be because they did it when they were children but what these parents do not realize is the huge risk for SIDS this causes. As other articles described an infants body temperature is a huge factor for preventing SIDS. When an infant is sharing a bed with their parents their temperature has a hard time being regulated and could lead to the overheating of the infant. Another risk when it comes to bed-sharing is suffocation from blankets or the parents sleeping too close to the infant. Another factor this article discusses is since the infant is sleeping in the bed with the parent the parents are not getting enough sleep to properly care for an infant. They are

sleeping with one eye open to make sure that their child is alright and therefore they are sleepy and can make mistakes while they are awake. There have been many improvements over the years in regards to SIDS prevention it is important to keep conducting research in order to eradicate the prevalence of sudden infant death syndrome.

When looking at SIDS it is important to see how far we have come by researching and becoming more educated on the subject. Edwin Mitchell a professor in the Deparment of Pediatrics in New Zealand talks about SIDS: past, present and future. This article discusses that the rate of SIDS has dropped almost 40% since the 1980s. This is due to the research that is constantly being produced in SIDS prevention as well as many states adopting the back-to-sleep position. This article states SIDS is preventable, application of what we currently know could eliminate SIDS. The challenge is to find new ways to implement our knowledge. This article does a great job of showing how much can be gained from becoming educated on SIDS and spreading the word. So many lives could be saved. When looking into a problem it is important to see what types of advancements are currently being made to eradicate the problem. In Tara Ramirezs 2013 article, Sudden infant death syndrome: are we any closer to identifying which infants will be affected. She discusses how much SIDS has changed over the last 43 years but explains that there is still no exact way to tell which children will be affected by SIDS. The current research says that the best way to avoid SIDS is to control what we can in safety measures. In her study she found that the two most important ways to prevent SIDS was the back-to-sleep method and a safe sleep environment such as tight sheets and nothing extra in the crib while the baby sleeps. By

looking at current research of SIDS a lot can be learned that may save someone close to you.

Conclusion:

In conclusion it is very important to look at all factors that involve sudden infant death syndrome. SIDS is a very serious problem around the world and the hardest thing about it is that it can be prevented. Knowledge is power and through my extensive literature analysis I have found many credible sources that will allow me to persuade my reader to take all steps necessary to prevent SIDS with their own children. Not bed sharing, using pacifiers, and becoming educated on how to prevent SIDS are the important steps to becoming a SIDS preventer.

Works Cited

Clark, Alena, and Charlene Auten. "Assessing Child Care Providers' SIDS Practices And Website Educational Material Use." Relational Child & Youth Care Practice 24.3 (2011): 33-39. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. D'Halluin, Amlie Ryckewaert, et al. "Formative Evaluation To Improve Prevention Of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): A Prospective Study." Acta Paediatrica 100.10 (2011): e147-e151. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Homer, Caroline, Elizabeth Armari, and Catherine Fowler. "Bed-Sharing With Infants In A Time Of SIDS Awareness." Neonatal, Paediatric & Child Health Nursing 15.2 (2012): 3-7. CINAHL with Full Text. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Liebrechts-Akkerman, Germaine, et al. "Postnatal Parental Smoking: An Important Risk Factor For SIDS." European Journal Of Pediatrics 170.10 (2011): 1281-1291. Consumer Health Complete - EBSCOhost. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Mitchell, Edwin A. "SIDS: Past, Present And Future." Acta Paediatrica 98.11 (2009): 1712-1719. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Moon, Rachel, et al. "Pacifier Use And Sids: Evidence For A Consistently Reduced Risk." Maternal & Child Health Journal 16.3 (2012): 609-614. CINAHL with Full Text. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Ramirez, Tara L., and Michael H. Malloy. "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Are We Any Closer To Identifying Which Infants Will Be Affected?." Pediatric Health, Medicine & Therapeutics 4.(2013): 13-20. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

Schnitzer, Patricia G., Theresa M. Covington, and Heather K. Dykstra. "Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths: Sleep Environment And Circumstances." American Journal Of Public Health 102.6 (2012): 1204-1212. Consumer Health Complete EBSCOhost. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.