Child Development and Public Health

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome & Co-Sleeping

 

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of death among infants between 1 month and 1 year of age in the developed world. In the United States, SIDS accounts for 22% of all post neonatal deaths (Malloy and MacDorman, 1992-2001).

The following have been linked to a baby's increased risk of SIDS:

• Sleeping on the stomach
• Being around cigarette smoke while in the womb or after being born
• Sleeping in the same bed as their parents (co-sleeping)
• Soft bedding in the crib
• Multiple birth babies (being a twin, triplet, etc.)
• Premature birth
• Having a brother or sister who had SIDS
• Mothers who smoke or use illegal drugs
• Being born to a teen mother
• Short time period between pregnancies
• Late or no prenatal care
• Living in poverty situations

Japan, another industrialized country, not only has one of the lowest infant mortality rates (less than 3 infants per 1000 live births compared with around 7 for the United States), but one of the lowest SIDS rates in the world (between .2 and .3 babies per 1000 live births compared with approximately .5 per 1000 infants for the US). The Japan SIDS Family Organization reported that SIDS rates continue to decline in Japan as maternal smoking approaches practically 0, and exclusive breastfeeding reaches around 70-75 %. In fact, one report shows that as bed sharing and breastfeeding increased and as maternal smoking decreased, SIDS rates decreased. This suggests yet again that it is not necessarily bed sharing, but how it is practiced, that can be dangerous (McKenna Ph.D.).

Interestingly, it may be that Japanese bed sharing rates do not differ all that much from those in the US, but the cultural acceptance of cosleeping as the norm is very different. In 1998, 60% of parents said they practiced bed sharing in Japan, only about 16% more than US parents. This means that the practice of cosleeping does not necessarily vary a great deal from culture to culture, but rather that the social acceptance of cosleeping is what varies (McKenna Ph.D.)

There are two stories that hit home with me just recently.  One if of a mother who fell asleep in the tub with her baby, and the second was a mother who fell asleep with baby in her bed.  In both case the babies passed away.  I am a very big advocate of educating parents. The mother in the case where the baby died in the tub is being charged with reckless homicide.  After seeing both these stories on the local I news I felt the need to find how this can continue to happen.

These two stories lead me to research SIDS and Co-Sleeping.  The article and news stories have opened my eyes on importance to inform the parents of safe sleeping for them and their children.  I have parents that enroll their child and tell me she/he likes to sleep on their belly.  I would tell them well I have to sleep them on their backs and leave it at that.  I know am going to change my answer to the child needs to always sleep on their backs and this is why.  I am now going to pass out information on SIDS for my new parent’s regardless is they are a first time parent or if they have other kids.

References

Alter, M., Warren, J., & Andreasik, J. (n.d.). Newport mother charged in the August drowning of a 5-month-old baby. WCPO. Retrieved January 16, 2014, from http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/campbell-county/newport/newport-mother-charged-in-the-august-drowning-of-a-5-month-old-baby?searchType=ALL&compId=214447623 

 

Dailey, A. (n.d.). Baby in Over-the-Rhine dies, bed-sharing could be to blame. WCPO. Retrieved January 16, 2014, from http://www.wcpo.com/weather/safety/baby-in-over-the-rhine-dies-bed-sharing-could-be-to-blame

 

 A Parent's Guide to Safe Sleep. (n.d.). HealthyChildren.org. Retrieved January 16, 2014, from http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/sleep/Pages/A-Parents-Guide-to-Safe-Sleep.aspx  

 

Malloy MH, MacDorman M. Changes in the classification of sudden unexpected infant deaths: United States, 1992–2001. Pediatrics.2005; 115 (5):1247– 1253 Abstract/FREE Full Text

SIDS America. (n.d.). SIDS Risk Factors and Causes of SIDS. Retrieved January 16, 2014, from http://sidsamerica.org/about-sids/sids-risk-factors-and-causes-of-sids

McKenna Ph.D., J. J. (n.d.). Cosleeping Around the World - The Natural Child Project. Cosleeping Around the World - The Natural Child Project. Retrieved January 14, 2014, from http://www.naturalchild.org/james_mckenna/cosleeping_world.html 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Childbirth in Your Life and Around the World

 

I remember the day I got the call that my niece Cassaundra was born.  I was not there for the event but this is the most memorable birth I know.  We called Cassaundra our miracle baby.  She was not sick and there were no complications to her delivery.  My sister and her husband went to all her appointments and took all necessary precautions during her prenatal care.  What makes her a miracle is she was someone’s reason to live. 

The reason I was not there is because our grandmother was sick and I was there with her.  My grandmother had lost foot to diabetes and had had several strokes. A few days before Cassaundra was born I was changing the bandages on my grandmother’s foot and noticed some green discharge with an order coming out.  I called my aunt’s and they rushed over and we rushed her to the hospital.  The doctors rushed her into surgery and removed both her legs.  After surgery the doctors came out and said it’s not looking good and we should call in the family.  I was only seventeen at the time, I remember my aunts putting me back on the bus and sending me home to my mother.  Ounce home I begged my mother to go back.  My mother called to check on my grandmother to see if she had improved, with no improvements we pack up and went back down to Ashland, Ky.  When we arrived my mother begged the doctors please let her see her first great granddaughter.  At first they were hesitant but after many prayers and pledging they let my sister take Cassaundra in. 

The doctors told us that my grandmother probably would not make it through the night.  My grandmother lived for another 15 years before she passed.  I believe that in my heart when she saw Cassaundra it gave her a reason to fight and she choose to fight.

I didn’t pick this birth because of watching the birth changed my life but because Cassaundra changed all of our lives.  She gave us hope in miracles. She strength our faith and if there was someone in our family that didn’t believe they now believed. 

As I stated my sister did everything the doctors told her.  She went to all her appointments.  She did what we do in America get what we call proper care and she gave birth to an angel that saved my grandmothers life for another 15 years. 

I believe that child birth has a huge impact on how children development.  If there are complications at birth this can slow a child’s development.  The way the child comes into the world will not determine what type of person the child would be, but can determine if the child will have obstacles to overcome.  I was a premature baby weighing 2lb.  There was a lot of things I had to overcome but I survived.  

 

Every single day, Nigeria loses about 2,300 under-five years’ olds and 145 women of childbearing age.  This makes the country the second largest contributor to under-five and maternal mortality rate in the world (UNICEF Nigeria-The children-Maternal and child health).  Comparing Nigeria to the US is like oil and water.  Americans have the resources to prenatal care and quality health care.  The women and children of Nigeria are not awarded that opportunity.  Most children in Nigeria die within the first week of life.  In America we take for granted that our child will live past the first week of life.  Complications during pregnancy and delivery are the main cause.  A woman’s chance of dying from pregnancy and childbirth in Nigeria is 1 in 13. (UNICEF Nigeria-The children-Maternal and child health).  The majority of these deaths can be prevented is there was quality health care there.  This is another effect that economy has on child development.  If these women and children were in a well-developed country the rate of death would be lower.  The main comparison here is rich and poor.  Where there is money and resources there is less loss of life, with less money there is more loss in life.  We as people the human race, need work together to fix this problem.  Why are there children dying after a week for being born, why are women dying after child birth if they had the proper care they would normally survive.

 

Nigeria, The Children, Maternal and child health

http://www.unicef.org/nigeria/children_1926.html