Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Excellent paper on SIDS.. 15 Pages w/Works cited Excellent Work

Sudden infant death syndrome, better known as S.I.D.S., is one of the leading causes for the inflated infant mortality rate in this country today. It is often misunderstood or unrecognizable. For the most part, the causes of SIDS are unknown to the general public. This is changing, however, as public awareness is ever increasing. Thus, the purpose of this paper will be to explain sudden infant death syndrome and its known or suggested causes. Also, the history of SIDS, the problems and emotional suffering that results from the loss of a child, the toll it takes on the surviving sibling, and possible counseling or other help that is available for parents who may have lost a child to SIDS are such areas that will be explored. Overall I hope to achieve a better understanding of all these suggested topics within the body of the paper.

English: Aerial photograph from the north of the M...

A plot of SIDS rate from 1988 to 2006

English: Sids (Sudden Infant Death Syndrom) in Nor...

SIDS is also commonly referred to as crib death. It is said to claim approximately in the range of 6,000 to 7,000 babies a year within the continental United States alone, with a slight increase each year (Bergman xi). This would seem to be an astounding figure, but when the figure of the total amount of babies that are born in the United States is compared to that of the number of deaths due to SIDS, it accounts for only a small percentage. It is a small percentage that hopefully can be reduced. And to any parents, the loss of just one child is definitely one too many, despite of the statistics that are currently available. During the first week of life is where most deaths that are associated with prematurity dominate, SIDS is the leading cause of death among infants under one year...