Underweight babies face greater risk of cot death
Katy Morton
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Parents of underweight babies should be given more advice on how to reduce the risk of cot death after new figures reveal they are the most at risk, urges the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID).
The charity’s warning comes as new figures released by the Office of National Statistics for 2009 show that babies born weighing less than 5.5lb are over five times more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or cot death.
The figures also reveal that in the last four years the number of babies that have died from SIDS has remained at around 300 deaths per year.
Francine Bates, chief executive of FSID, said, ‘It’s well known that parental smoking increases a baby’s risk of cot death but babies who are born underweight are also an extremely vulnerable group, particularly during the first month of life, so it’s vital that their parents are given advice on how to reduce their risk.
‘We especially need the help of health professionals and organisations working with parents to ensure that the safe sleep messages are not forgotten. It has been estimated that if every parent followed the Reduce the Risk advice we could halve the number of cot deaths in the UK.’
The figures also reveal that in the last four years the number of babies that have died from SIDS has remained at around 300 deaths per year.
Francine Bates, chief executive of FSID, said, ‘It’s well known that parental smoking increases a baby’s risk of cot death but babies who are born underweight are also an extremely vulnerable group, particularly during the first month of life, so it’s vital that their parents are given advice on how to reduce their risk.
‘We especially need the help of health professionals and organisations working with parents to ensure that the safe sleep messages are not forgotten. It has been estimated that if every parent followed the Reduce the Risk advice we could halve the number of cot deaths in the UK.’
- http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=14127&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272
- FSID www.fsid.org.uk
