Question

Hope is a 19-year-old mother with a 2-day-old male infant getting ready for discharge. She has voiced some concern because her neighbors’ 2-month-old baby died suddenly last year. Hope has been out of work and received no prenatal care during the pregnancy.

1. What maternal risk factors could put her baby at risk?
2. What are some ways to reduce the risk of sudden infant death?
3. After talking with Hope, she asks if breastfeeding would be a better choice to avoid her baby getting SIDS. How would you answer this question for Hope and why?

Answer 1

1. Low birth weight. Premature birth increases the likelihood that a baby's brain hasn't matured completely, so he or she has less control over such automatic processes as breathing and heart rate.

Smoking during pregnancy

2. Lay on the back for sleep, firm mattress only, mattress and sheet only, if using a blanket only a thin one from the waist down, no bumpers, pillows, etc. Room temp needs to be cool, less than 75°. Have found that pacifiers can help (sucking leads to breathing). A smoke-free environment (smoking cessation). Never give honey to an infant because honey has a bacteria which can lead botulism which is an infection that infants cannot tolerate and can kill a baby.

3. The best way to prevent SIDS is to place the infant on its back to sleep. Breastfeeding has not been shown as a link to the prevention of SIDS. Sleeping in bed with adults has been linked to infant death in that the parent may inadvertently roll over on the infant. Additionally, soft pillows and bed linens can contribute to accidental suffocation in young infants. The prone position for sleeping has been linked to SIDS deaths.