http://aaobserveronline.com/?p=1420
SIDS Rate High For Black Babies
Dr. John Kattwinkel has been studying Sudden Infant Death Syndrome since 1991. His goal is to make known the two
main causes of SIDS: babies not sleeping on their backs and bed-sharing, also known as co-sleeping.
But while the number of infant deaths attributed to SIDS has dropped dramatically in recent years, the rate of SIDS for African-American babies remains relatively high, the doctor said.
Kattwinkel spoke April 18 in East Peoria, Ill. He began his presentation — sponsored by the University of Illinois College of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Illinois — with a photo of a baby sleeping on its stomach in a crib.
“If you look carefully you’ll see a baby in this picture surrounded by stuffed animals and pillows,” Kattwinkel said. “(The parents) clearly loved this baby dearly, and yet they woke up in the morning to find this baby dead.”
A phenomenon called “re-breathing” causes many infant deaths, according to Kattwinkel, and it can be avoided simply by ensuring babies sleep on their backs. Re-breathing occurs when a baby breaths in carbon dioxide it just breathed out, due to the baby sleeping on its stomach or in bedding that has pockets where the gas can become trapped.
“You and I, if that happens, we’ll turn over and our brain will tell us, ‘Hey wake up and start breathing,’ ” Kattwinkel said. “Babies, up until a certain age, don’t have the ability to do that.”
Kattwinkel’s work, along with that of doctors, nurses, and countless others in medical and public health organizations, has helped to reduce infant deaths attributed to SIDS from more than 4,000 per year in 1991 to less than 3,000 annually in 2008.
“It was a little harrowing at first,” Kattwinkel said of the early weeks and months of his 1991 study. “The monthly rate was bouncing up and down, and we were nervous. But as the months went on, and it seemed like there was a downward trend, we said ‘we’ve got to have a national campaign.’ ”
That’s when the 1993 “Back to Sleep” campaign began.
While convenience and bonding played a role in African-American parents sharing a bed with their infant, protection from stray gunfire and kidnapping were reasons for the practice, according to a study cited by Kattwinkel.
“In these high-risk areas, it’s seen as a way to protect the baby,” Kattwinkel said. “If you’ve ever walked around Washington, D.C., at night, you’ll always hear gunfire, so it’s understandable why mothers would want to do this.”
Regardless of race, living arrangements or socio-economic position, however, Kattwinkel says bed-sharing and babies sleeping on their sides or stomach remain the two biggest causes of SIDS, something that must be shared with the public almost 30 years after “Back to Sleep.”
“We’ve reached another generation of mothers that have never heard of it,” Kattwinkel said. “Any way we can bring attention to the issue is good.”
main causes of SIDS: babies not sleeping on their backs and bed-sharing, also known as co-sleeping.But while the number of infant deaths attributed to SIDS has dropped dramatically in recent years, the rate of SIDS for African-American babies remains relatively high, the doctor said.
Kattwinkel spoke April 18 in East Peoria, Ill. He began his presentation — sponsored by the University of Illinois College of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Illinois — with a photo of a baby sleeping on its stomach in a crib.
“If you look carefully you’ll see a baby in this picture surrounded by stuffed animals and pillows,” Kattwinkel said. “(The parents) clearly loved this baby dearly, and yet they woke up in the morning to find this baby dead.”
A phenomenon called “re-breathing” causes many infant deaths, according to Kattwinkel, and it can be avoided simply by ensuring babies sleep on their backs. Re-breathing occurs when a baby breaths in carbon dioxide it just breathed out, due to the baby sleeping on its stomach or in bedding that has pockets where the gas can become trapped.
“You and I, if that happens, we’ll turn over and our brain will tell us, ‘Hey wake up and start breathing,’ ” Kattwinkel said. “Babies, up until a certain age, don’t have the ability to do that.”
Kattwinkel’s work, along with that of doctors, nurses, and countless others in medical and public health organizations, has helped to reduce infant deaths attributed to SIDS from more than 4,000 per year in 1991 to less than 3,000 annually in 2008.
“It was a little harrowing at first,” Kattwinkel said of the early weeks and months of his 1991 study. “The monthly rate was bouncing up and down, and we were nervous. But as the months went on, and it seemed like there was a downward trend, we said ‘we’ve got to have a national campaign.’ ”
That’s when the 1993 “Back to Sleep” campaign began.
While convenience and bonding played a role in African-American parents sharing a bed with their infant, protection from stray gunfire and kidnapping were reasons for the practice, according to a study cited by Kattwinkel.
“In these high-risk areas, it’s seen as a way to protect the baby,” Kattwinkel said. “If you’ve ever walked around Washington, D.C., at night, you’ll always hear gunfire, so it’s understandable why mothers would want to do this.”
Regardless of race, living arrangements or socio-economic position, however, Kattwinkel says bed-sharing and babies sleeping on their sides or stomach remain the two biggest causes of SIDS, something that must be shared with the public almost 30 years after “Back to Sleep.”
“We’ve reached another generation of mothers that have never heard of it,” Kattwinkel said. “Any way we can bring attention to the issue is good.”
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