More SIDS Risk Factors Explained

The Back to Sleep campaign reduced deaths from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), but other risk factors also exist. A study collected information on risk factors from 568 infants who died from SIDS between 1991 and 2008. They found that 99% of the infants with SIDS had at least one of seven risk factors. About 57% had three risk factors. The risk factors were male gender, African-American race, having a mother who smoked or drank while pregnant, sleeping on the stomach or side, sleeping in an adult bed or sharing a bed, overheating, having the head covered by bedding and having an upper respiratory infection. The study was published in Pediatrics.