Sids - Sudden Infant death Syndrome
What is sids?
Sudden infant death syndrome (sids) is a medical term used to describe the sudden death, during sleep of an apparently health baby under the age of 1 year. SIDS is a diagnosis of exclusion. It is only given after careful post mortem investigations fail to reveal alternative reasons. A SIDS diagnosis is only given after after all known and possible causes have been carefully ruled out.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is not caused by
- child abuse
- colds or minor infection
- choking or vomiting
- hereditary factors
- immunization
SIDS claims the lives of 7,000 American babies each year (many more world wide) Although numbers have substantially reduced in recent years these figures are still worrying
Sids can occur in any family - all races and socio economic groups - without warning. Doctors and parents cannot predict that SIDS will occur and most victims appear to be perfectly healthy prior to their deaths . Read on to find out how you can help to protect your baby from sids.