Crib Death Declines In U.S.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) — also known as "crib death" — is a mysterious killer which stalks sleeping infants. No one knows what causes it,
but CBS 'This Morning' Health Correspondent Dr. Emily Senay reports some good news about SIDS.

SIDS, the unexplained death of a sleeping infant under one year old, is the leading cause of death in infants between 1 month and 1 year of age. But the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) report SIDS deaths are declining in the United States.

The report shows that parents are getting the message about sleep position and SIDS risk. Several years ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended that infants sleep on their backs or sides to reduce the risk of SIDS, as indicated by numerous studies of SIDS risk factors.
"Back To Sleep," a public education campaign launched in 1994, has been telling mothers to place infants on their backs to protect their babies. While no cause-and-effect relationship can be established between the public awareness push and the lowered incidence of "crib death," the report in JAMA does show significant change in the way caregivers put infants to bed.

According to the study conducted at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the number of parents who say they place their infants to sleep on their stomachs declined from 70 percent in 1992 to 24 percent in 1996. The number of people who say they placed their infants to sleep on their backs increased from 13 percent in 1992 to 35 percent in 1996, and placing infants on their sides increased from 15 percent in 1992 to 39 percent in 1996.

Reported by Dr. Emily Senay