Facts

Before I was pregnant I had a friend whose baby died in the night and no cause was ever found. I try not to think about it, but now that I have my own precious baby, it does pop into my mind regularly. How can I reassure myself that it won’t happen to me?

Statistics show that less that 0.05% of babies die in circumstances that are never explained. These deaths are lumped together as ‘sudden infant death syndrome’ or DIDS and this is every parent’s worst nightmare. The risk of SIDS is at its greatest from 2- 4 months, and is uncommon after 6 months. There is an increased risk for babies whose mothers smoked or did not take good care during pregnancy, as well as very low birth weight babies. But even so the risk is extremely low. It is a good idea for members of the household to be trained in baby CPR, which can be a reassuring skill to know. If the fear of SIDs becomes problematic to you it may be useful to seek counselling.