Risks Factors of Crib Deaths
March 5, 2010
Giving birth to a baby is undoubtedly a joyous event. However, bringing up a child stage by stage can be a difficult task and most new parents are terrified of something going wrong with their bundle of joy.The most tragic event that can occur soon after childbirth is the death of the infant. The cause of the death may often be undecided leaving the new parents perplexed and distraught with grief. This is known as sudden infant death syndrome and may have quite a few risk factors associated with it. The unexplained condition was formerly known as cot or crib death as the lesser educated parents who lived away from the health care facilities had to face the death of their babies for no apparent reason.
Risk Factors- The American Academy of Pediatrics has, in fact, pin pointed a few facts which can help us to take a few timely precautions in order to avoid such incidences in future. It has been noticed that the babies never die due to unexplained causes during their very first year. On the contrary, the incidences of death are more commonly noticed in infants who have attained the age of 2 to 3 months.
Babies who sleep on their stomach or on extremely soft surfaces like pillows, mattresses which are unduly soft or on very soft bedding materials can be prone to crib deaths.
Children of mothers who smoke all through their pregnancy along with having a poor nutrition often run a risk of losing their children to sudden infant death syndrome. Mothers who do not take adequate precautions during pregnancy have an increased possibility of losing their new born babies as a result of this syndrome too. Teenaged mothers have an increased risk of seeing their babies die due to this unexplained syndrome as well. Pre-mature birth or under weight babies cannot cope with life and fall victim to the crib or cot death too.
Being bundled up in clothes causing an over heated condition may result in the baby succumbing as is the exposure to very cold temperature.
The male baby is found to be more stricken down by this syndrome instead of the female child. Infants of African Americans, Alaskan natives and American Indians face an increased risk of falling prey to the sudden infant death syndrome.
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