Sudden Infant Death

SIDS the serious side to Red Nose Day

Rebecca Keleher never thought she would ever be able to celebrate on a day like this. For her, the pain of losing her son eight years ago was too much to bear.

She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and could not have known that he wouldn't survive the month.

Rebecca didn't smoke nor did she drink through her pregnancy and to her Adam was a healthy new-born child. Yet he passed suddenly without warning and it rocked her whole family.

She says it was hard to come to terms with his death, and left her with many un-answered questions; and at times and she relives the pain of losing him.

"Why!? Why did it happen? I thought; why me?" she questions.

"It's still very hard, because you're always looking at what he'd be doing at 8 years old."

Rebecca and her family can attest to the range of emotions as their grief began to form around them. But she says it was thanks to supportive friends and family that they were able to make it through.

Red nose day is a day that the Kelehers now spend telling their story. Rebecca says it has been a major part of the healing process.

"The more you talk about it, the more it does become easier," she says

"People do know my story now, and they know they can give me a call, or call SIDS and Kids to say to them, help is there."

Bereavement Support

SIDS and Kids Queensland provide support to anyone who is affected by the sudden and unexpected death of a baby. There support networks include a 24 hour support line, counselling services, workshops and a range of professional and peer support.

Rebecca Keleher lent on these services when she need them the most.

"I used to ring them at late hours and they were there, supporting me. I still keep in regular contact with them," she says

The immediate reaction to the death of a baby or child can be shock, denial, disbelief, a sense of numbness or reality.

Leanne Raven from SIDS and Kids says these reactions are completely normal and instinctual, and help to cushion the impact of a death until a time when the devastating reality can be faced.

"Some emotions parents and family members may experience are guilt, anger, fear, blame and despair. Sometimes these emotions don't appear until years later," she says.

"It's important to know that grief can appear in all sorts of ways, it's not simply sadness or crying. Grieving the death of a child can be a bewildering experience.

Breast-feeding May Shield Against Sudden Infant Death Syndrome ...

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) — Breast-feeding appears to reduce the risk of SIDS by up to 73 percent, especially when babies are exclusively breast-fed, a new study suggests.

Breast milk is widely considered the best food for infants, and studies have shown breast-feeding aids babies’ development and reduces the risk of disease for both infants and their mothers. Now, there is more evidence that breast-feeding may reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), which claims the lives of about 2,300 infants a year in the United States, according to federal statistics.

“Breast-feeding has many benefits for mothers’ and infants’ health,” said lead researcher Dr. Fern R. Hauck, an associate professor of family medicine and public health at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. “This study shows another important reason that mothers should breast-feed their infants, and ideally, this should be exclusive.”

Previous research of this issue has been inconclusive, but these findings provide strong evidence of the protective association, Hauck said.

The report was published in the June 13 online edition of Pediatrics .

For the study, Hauck and colleagues looked at the connection between breast-feeding and SIDS by doing a meta-analysis of 18 studies. In this process, researchers look for common threads by combining the results of individual studies.

Their analysis showed that for infants who received any amount of breast milk for any time period, there was a 60 percent reduction in the risk of SIDS. When the researchers took into account other factors such as socioeconomic status, smoking and infant sleep position, the reduction in the risk of SIDS dropped to 45 percent, Hauck said.

However, when the researchers looked at the reduced risk of SIDS among infants who were exclusively breast-fed, the risk was reduced by 73 percent.

“These results indicate that breast-feeding is strongly protective against SIDS. Exclusive breast-feeding confers the most protection,” Hauck said.

Although the reasons for the association between breast-feeding and the reduced risk of SIDS is unclear, there are several theories.

“Breast-fed infants more arousable during sleep,” Hauck said. This may be due to the infants’ need to be nursed, which may interrupt sleep. (SIDS appears to be linked to a defect in arousability from sleep, according to some experts.

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