The public health topic I chose is SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. This topic is meaningful to me because babies are my passion in the early childhood field. I want to learn as much as I can and pass the information on to the families I serve. Also in my previous job I worked with a teen mom that lost her 4-month-old baby girl to SIDS.
SIDS is an unexplainable death of a baby in its sleep. SIDS has decreased since the public awareness campaign called "Back to Sleep" however the back to sleep method of sleeping is not a cure for SIDS. Risk factors for SIDS include, " low birth weight, over-dressed infants, low SES, formula feeding, and teenage parenthood," (Berger, 2009). Two ways to reduce the risk of SIDS besides back to sleep are breast-feeding as well as introducing baby to a binki during rest times.
The information I learned will allow me to teach new parents about the risks of SIDS. I will also be able to pass the information on to friends, family, and neighbors. Any information that can reduce infant deaths is important information!
Other interesting information I learned while researching SIDS includes, "African-American infants are twice as likely and Native-American infants are three times more likely to die of SIDS than Caucasian infants," (Kids Health, 2008). Boys die more often from SIDS than girls (Kids Health, 2008). Most internet resources I reviewed list Asian babies as the lowest risk race and ethnic group for SIDS. I found this interesting because several articles listed Japanese families as common co-sleepers which is not recommended in the United States because infants can over heat or parents can roll onto their babies.
Josie Zbaeren
Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood. (5th ed.). New York,
NY: Worth Publishers
Kids Health, (2008, Novemeber 1). Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Kids Health.
Retrieved from http://www.bing/
Hi Josie,
ReplyDeleteThat is all very interesting information and good to pass on to others. Did you happen to find out why breastfeeding and/or a pacifier are correlated with less SIDS?
Tory
Interesting to know about the fact in Japan that co-sleepers is normal, even it doesn't wonder me, because it's also happened in my country, Indonesia, where most parents sleep with the baby, or at least in the same room, whereas in Germany is also not recommended. I lived in Germany for 9 years, and took care of babies. Co-sleepers habit is because the parents want to be sure that the baby feel save to be around the parents. The other way, in another culture, the parents want the babies get used to sleep alone, to be more independent. I think so.
ReplyDeleteHi Josie,
ReplyDeleteI wounder why SIDS is more prevalent with African American families? I wonder if culture plays a part in this. I do know a lot of African American parents who had a practiced of lieing children down with their bottles propped in their mouth, while they performed daily household chores, not implying that this is a contributing factor, but who knows? I myself use to do it before I became knowledgable on the topic as I was also told to lie babies down on their stomachs, which was later discouraged. As you learn better you do better.
Michele
Hello, Josie
ReplyDeleteIn my reasearch about breastfeeding in Africa I discovered that breastfeeding reduces the risk of SIDS. Breastfeeding can prevent respiratory problems contributed to SIDS. Just a little more information you can share with new parents to prevents SIDS.