The current advice given to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has been successful to date. A complementary medicine research study published in the early 1990’s led to this turnaround. The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare advised new parents to:
- Place the infants to sleep on their backs
- Cease smoking during pregnancy
- The infant should not be kept to warm in the cot
- Infants should be able to move freely
- Encouraged breastfeeding
This advice led to a reduction in SIDS related deaths from 100 to 20 per year.
Now, Per Möllborg, Child Health Medical Officer from the University of Gothenburg, has recently conducted further investigations and has provided additional advice
The risk of SIDS was greater if:
- the parents did not live together
- the mother was young,
- the mother had given birth to many children
- the baby was premature
- infants did not sleep in their own beds in the first three months
- they did not sleep in their parents’ bedroom during the first three months
As a consequence, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioner should consider when offering additional advice to new parents.
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