Tag: sudden unexpected infant death

Categories : PaediatricsTags :

More than a Quarter of New Mothers have Fallen Asleep while Breastfeeding

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Wendy Wei

More than a quarter of new mothers have fallen asleep recently while feeding their babies, putting the infants at increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), research published in Pediatrics reveals.

More than 80% had not intended to fall asleep, and many had chosen to feed in chairs or on sofas rather than in a bed. Unfortunately, the cushions and confines of those locations can be very unsafe for babies, raising the risk of death by 49 to 67 times.

The researchers, with UVA Health and UVA Health Children’s, are urging care providers to provide additional guidance for new parents on safe feeding practices, such as informing new moms that a hormone naturally released during breastfeeding will make them feel sleepy.

“While falling asleep while feeding young infants is not in itself too surprising, what is very alarming is that the majority of mothers did not plan to fall asleep, so the sleep space was potentially unsafe for the baby while both slept,” said researcher Fern Hauck, MD, MS, a safe-sleep expert at UVA Health and the UVA School of Medicine. “This highlights the need for parents to be educated about the potential risk of falling asleep while feeding and to plan for that possibility by making the space around the baby as safe as possible. That would include removing pillows and blankets to ensure an open airway for the baby.”

Safe infant feeding

Hauck and her collaborators, including UVA’s Ann Kellams, MD, and Rachel Moon, MD, analysed survey results collected from more than 1250 new mothers as part of the Social Media and Risk-reduction Training (SMART) study conducted at 16 US hospitals in 2015 and 2016. Most respondents completed the survey when their infant was between 2 and 3 months of age.

Among the respondents, more than 28% said they had “usually” or “sometimes” fallen asleep during feeding in the prior two weeks. Of those, a whopping 83.4% said falling asleep was unplanned.

Women who fed in bed were more likely to fall asleep (33.6%) than those who fed on a chair or couch (16.8%). The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends mothers at risk of falling asleep while breastfeeding should do so in an adult bed rather than a chair or couch.

Many of the women who fell asleep on chairs or sofas said they chose those locations specifically to avoid falling asleep, to avoid locations (such as a bed) they had been told were unsafe or to avoid disturbing someone else. (The AAP warns moms against sharing a bed or other sleep space with an infant because of the risk the parent might accidentally roll over and smother the child, or that the child could become tangled in bedding. But the group also says that beds are safer than chairs and sofas if falling asleep while feeding is a possibility.)

“We need to meet families where they are and come up with a nighttime plan for sleeping and feeding their baby that works for them and is as safe as possible,” said Kellams, a paediatrician and breastfeeding and lactation medicine specialist at UVA Health Children’s. “Our data suggest that too many of these falling asleep incidents are not planned, so discussions about how to plan for feeding your baby when you are very tired are important.”

The researchers note that providing parents with information about safe sleep and feeding has been shown to reduce risk of unexpected death significantly. But this educational outreach needs to be expanded, they say. Care providers should acknowledge that moms face a very real risk of falling asleep while feeding, even if they are trying not to, and provide practical advice on how to reduce that risk. Further, the researchers are urging additional studies to find ways to assist parents in both safe-sleep practices and breastfeeding.

“We hope that parents of young infants will think proactively about what might happen in the middle of the night,” said Moon, a paediatrician and safe-sleep expert at UVA Health Children’s. “Feeding your baby in your bed is safer than feeding on a couch or armchair if you might fall asleep.”

Source: University of Virginia Health System

Categories : PaediatricsTags :

Study Finds Multiple Unsafe Sleep Practices in Most Sudden Infant Deaths

On By ModernMedia
Photo by William Fortunato on Pexels

There were multiple unsafe sleep practices at play in more than three-quarters of Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths reported in 23 U.S. jurisdictions between 2011 and 2020, according to a new study published in Pediatrics. The researchers say the findings underscore the need for more comprehensive safe-sleep education for new parents, including from healthcare providers.

Of 7595 infant deaths reviewed, almost 60% of the infants were sharing a sleep surface, such as a bed, when they died.

This practice is strongly discouraged by sleep experts, who warn that a parent or other bed partner could unintentionally roll over and suffocate the baby.

Infants who died while sharing a sleep surface were typically younger (less than 3 months old), non-Hispanic Black, publicly insured, and either in the care of a parent at the time of death or being supervised by someone impaired by drugs or alcohol.

These infants were typically found in an adult bed, chair or couch instead of the crib or bassinet recommended by sleep experts.

“The large number of hazardous sleep practices for both infants who were sharing a sleep surface and sleeping alone at the time of death is alarming,” said researcher Fern Hauck, MD, MS, a safe-sleep expert at UVA Health and the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

“These are known risk factors for SUID [Sudden Unexpected Infant Death], and tells us that we need to do a better job of working with families to increase acceptance of the recommendations to create safer sleep spaces for their infants.”

Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths

To better understand the factors contributing to SUID and improve safe-sleep messaging, Hauck and her collaborators analysed data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s SUID Case Registry.

The researchers obtained important insights on the prevalence of practices such as prenatal smoking, a known risk factor for SUID, and breastfeeding, which is thought to have a protective benefit.

More than 36% of mothers of infants who died had smoked while pregnant. This percentage was higher among moms who bed shared than those who didn’t, 41.4% to 30.5%. Both bed sharers and non-bed sharers had breastfed at similar rates.

The researchers note that it was rare for bedsharing to be the only risk factor present during a child’s death.

The findings highlight the need for better public education about safe-sleep practices, and for care providers to take a more active role in teaching new parents about the practices, the researchers say.

“Our findings support comprehensive safe sleep counselling for every family at every encounter beyond just asking where an infant is sleeping,” the researchers wrote

In addition to helping parents understand safe-sleep practices, care providers should take steps to ensure parents can follow those practices once they leave the hospital.

For example, some families may not have the means to purchase a crib or bassinet; a hospital might direct them to resources to help with that.

“SUID deaths in the U.S. are still higher than in most other countries, and this is unacceptable,” Hauck said.

“Clinicians and others caring for infants need to have thoughtful conversations with families at risk to understand the barriers to following safe-sleep guidelines and find ways to work together to overcome them.”

Source: University of Virginia Health System