Essay On Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

There is no way to indicate that infants might have a birth defect or other health problems. By understanding common infant health conditions and ways to prevent them may decrease the risk of having a baby born with medical issues. Birth defects usually cannot be discovered until after birth. This is why it is so important for mothers’ to really take in account that they need to take care of themselves while pregnant. In some occasions you can discover infants medical conditions prenatally. In this case, a doctor will point you in the direction to have the best possible outcome. Birth defects are defined as structural abnormalities, present at birth, with surgical, medical, or cosmetic importance. In the United States, 3% of the live births each year, approximately 120,000 infants, have identifiable structural birth defects. Issuing in 1.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, morbidity and mortality are known to be the leading cause of infant mortality. Some examples of birth …show more content…
By definition, sudden infant death syndrome is unexplained death of infants under the age of one year. As of 2008, there was no specific cause of SIDS but it has been proven that an unsafe sleep environment for infants is a significant concern. The Safe to Sleep campaign was launched in 1994 and it educated parents, caregivers, and health-care providers about the dangers added side-lying and soft ites in cribs adds additional risk factors for SIDS. After providing society with that knowledge, it was noted in the article, Nurses’ knowledge and adherence to sudden infant death syndrome prevention guidelines, that “death rates decreased from 130.5 (per 1,000 live births) in 1990 to 39.9 in 2013 (Bartlow, K., Cartwright, S., & Shefferly, E, 2016). Although the amount of infants dying from SIDS decreased tremendously; it is still the leading cause of death in infants and continues to be a noteworthy