The Risk Factors of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, aside from accidents, is the leading cause of infant deaths per year. This medical mystery is responsible for ten percent of infant deaths annually and still cannot be fully explained (http://reference.allrefer.com/ encyclopedia/S/suddeninf.html). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is characterized by the sudden and unexplained death of an infant less than one year of age after a thorough case investigation has been performed, including a total autopsy (http://www.sids.org/). Although medical science has proven no specific cause for SIDS, some speculations have been made regarding the risk factors that may indicate susceptible infants to these mysterious deaths.
Among the many lists of risk factors, two particular factors seem to be the most significant: tobacco and drug use in pregnant mothers and the position in which the infant sleeps. Along with many other medical complications, smoking or the use of drugs while pregnant increases the risk of SIDS by 400 and 500 percent respectively. With this, an infant's passive intake of cigarette smoke may raise the normal incidence of SIDS by three-and-one-half times (http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/20336.htm). This information, along with many other tobacco and drug induced infant diseases, is the very reason that an optimum health environment must be maintained while pregnant to ensure the infant of a promising life after birth.
The position in which the infant sleeps, the second most significant factor in the risk of SIDS, seems to be very substantial. As a journal article in the American Academy of Pediatrics states, since 1992 "the frequency of prone sleeping has decreased from less than 70% to approximately 20% of US infants, and the SIDS rate has decreased by less than 40%" (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/105/3/650). This statement shows a direct correlation between the position that an infant sleeps and the occurrence of SIDS.