Multi-Ethnic Study Into Cot Death Announced In Bradford

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 14 Aug 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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The UK's leading cot death charity, the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths [FSID], has given a Bradford researcher £78,000 to fund a multi-ethnic study into Sudden Infant Death Syndrome [SIDS].

Dr Eduardo Moya of the Paediatric Unit at St Luke's Hospital will be investigating the differences in post-natal infant care between families of South Asian and European origin living in Bradford.

Five thousand local families will take part in the study which will run until September 2010.

Dr Moya said: "Our aim is to find out what the dominant infant care practices in South Asian and European families are, so that we can identify which practices could have a protective effect against SIDS. Instances of SIDS are generally lower in families of South Asian origin."

The study will employ structured telephone interviews to obtain information on postnatal infant care practices for 5,000 families with 8-12 week-old infants.

These families will be taken from the existing database of Born in Bradford [BIB] - a project headed by Professor John Wright from the Bradford Institute for Health Research examining the health outcomes of 10,000 babies born in the city.

FSID Director Joyce Epstein said: "We hope that Dr Moya's research will help us to design targeted baby care messages aimed at changing unsafe infant care practices and save babies' lives.

"SIDS is still the biggest killer of babies over one month old in the UK today, claiming more than 300 infants' lives every year."

For more information about SIDS please visit http://www.fsid.org.uk.

Notes

The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) is the UK's leading baby charity working to prevent sudden infant deaths and promote infant health. FSID funds research; supports bereaved families; promotes baby care advice; and works to improve investigations when a baby dies. For more information visit http://www.fsid.org.uk.

Advice for parents to reduce the risk of cot death:

- Cut smoking in pregnancy - fathers too! And don't let anyone smoke in the same room as your baby.

- Place your baby on the back to sleep (and not on the front or side).

- Do not let your baby get too hot, and keep your baby's head uncovered.

- Place your baby with their feet to the foot of the cot, to prevent them wriggling down under the covers.

- Never sleep with your baby on a sofa or armchair.

- The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a crib or cot in a room with you for the first six months.

- It's especially dangerous for your baby to sleep in your bed if you (or your partner):

- are a smoker, even if you never smoke in bed or at home

- have been drinking alcohol

- take medication or drugs that make you drowsy

- feel very tired; or if your baby:

- was born before 37 weeks

- weighed less than 2.5kg or 5½ lbs at birth

- is less than three months old.

- Don't forget, accidents can happen: you might roll over in your sleep and suffocate your baby; or your baby could get caught between the wall and the bed, or could roll out of an adult bed and be injured.

- Settling your baby to sleep (day and night) with a dummy can reduce the risk of cot death, even if the dummy falls out while your baby is asleep.

- Breastfeed your baby. Establish breastfeeding before starting to use a dummy.

Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths

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