In 1998, I had to write an oral report for a class I took. I decided to do it on SIDS and my own opinions of the entity. Here I share my report with you, some paragraphs have been taken from a report that was written by a student on my experience.
Saturday evening 2 month old Jennifer Peterson cried and flailed her legs. She had a bath and took her bottle, she even gurgled and cooed. Early Sunday, before the sun broke, she died.
The definition of SIDS in the Taber's Medical Dictionary is: " The completely unexpected and unexplained death of an apparently well or virtually well, infant. The cause is uncertain at this time. SIDS cannot be predicted or prevented."
Jennifer's mother said," When a child dies of sudden death, the security, hopes, lifestyles and dreams of the parents die also. It is the parents who must be reborn after the death of their child."
Parents of SIDS infants often have questions, fears, and guilt like the ones exprssed here:
"My baby cried out during the night that he died, and I didn't respond, Is it my fault?" The answer would be no. If he cried, then he could not have been dying. He cried, went to sleep, and died later. Not responding to that cry had nothing to do with the baby dying.
Another question is:
"Since SIDS only occurs during sleep, if I had awakened my baby, would he have died?" No, he wouldn't have died then. There is no way of knowing when it was going to happen.
**SIDS is NOT hereditary
**SIDS is NOT contagious
**SIDS is NOT caused by suffocation
**SIDS is NOT caused by vomiting or choking
** and SIDS is NOT anyone's fault**
The risk factors of SIDS are that:
**SIDS occurs in the 2nd week through the 1st year of life. Most commonly between the 2nd and 4th month.
**It occurs more often in the colder months of November through March.
**It Occurs when the infant is sleeping
**It occurs to more low-birth weight or premature babies, and
**It occurs to more boys than girls.
For every "classic" case of SIDS, there are dozens that belie the statistics. These risk factors are only a pattern, they do not cause SIDS.
The research done on SIDS is extensive, but they have yet to come up with a reason why these babies die.
There have been many theories on why they die... One theory involved abnormalities in the respiratory and cardiorespiratory control, formed in the brain stem. It is believed that during the time when SIDS is most prevalent, the infant is growing rapidly and is at the age when she is beginning to sleep through the night, the brain stem becomes overwhelmed and shuts down. Nothing or no one can turn the "switch" back on.
Another theory shows that cardiac arrhythmias occur during sleep which may cause the infant to die suddenly without warning.
Other theories suggest that the mechanisms appears to be a sudden obstruction of the airway during sleep.
There have also been some misconceptions about SIDS. I have read articles about near-miss SIDS experiences. First of all as the name implies Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, the only symptom of SIDS is death.
There is apnea, where the child temporarily stops breathing, but with apnea, they are able to be resuscitated, while SIDS infants cannot be. There is a very thin margin where apnea cases overlap SIDS cases, but research shows that 9 times out of 10, SIDS infants have never had apnea episodes.
Many parents often think that their child may have suffocated because most babies are found face down under blankets. Experts have found that infants around this age can lilft their head and actually move around in their crib; also bedding materials have not been proven sufficient restriction to cause suffocation.
Many parents ask "Will it happen again if I have another child?" Well SIDS is not a heredity disease, and unless there are some underlying genetic disorders, the chance of it occuring again are 1 in 125.
The insecurity parents feel after the death of their child, often is a stumbling block when they consider having another baby. Some parents couldn't wait to have another child, while some tried to muster up their courage to try again. However, all parents knew there would always be lingering uneasiness and an urge to overprotect their subsequent children.
Jennifer's mother feels as if she was robbed. She lost her baby and her innocence.
The rest of the Taber's Medical definition states that "the loss of an infant due to SIDS may produce a severe grief and guilt reaction. Thus, the family needs expert counseling in the several months after the death."
There are several support groups offered:
**Compassionate friends**
**Valley-Sierra Chapter-SID foundation, P.O. box 214627, Sacramento CA 95821**
**SANDS-Support after Neonatal Death**
**National SIDS Foundation, 2 Metro Plaza, Ste 104, 8200 Professional Plaza, Landover, MD 20785**
This entity called SIDS is close to me for I am Jennifer's mother, and I personally agree with J. Bruce Beckwith, MD when he said "SIDS is not a disease, but a way of dying"
My life has been turned upside and around by the death of my daughter.. she was my first child.. my oldest son.. poor child, had this before him. He was monitored during his first year with an apnea monitor "just in case" not so much to try to prevent SIDS.. for I know there is no prevention.. but more for me as a preparation.. incase it happened, i would not have to walk into that room without knowing.. and find my child dead. He was rushed to the doctor's with every sniffle.. he was woken every so often, i was damned if this was going to happen again.. but this Chapter in my life.. my child.. my sweet angel. is over to a certain extent. my grieving is over.. my sadness is always there.. but life covers it alot.. now the "what ifs" start..
What if she had life.. she would be 11 this year.. what would my life had been like if she had lived.. If she had lived.. would i have my oldest son?? or my other child.. another son..
She was my only girl.. my first born.. she was my dreams, hopes, fears.. she was my youth..my innocence.. all of that was lost with her death.
