New Tool to Prevent Sudden Infant Death in At-Risk Babies

The sleep planner tool could enhance the adoption of life-saving advice for families with infants at a higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Scientists have created an online baby sleep planner with the goal of preventing sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The tool assists parents in evaluating their baby's risks and advocates for safe sleep practices. Although SIDS is infrequent (1 in 3,000 to 4,000 births in England), this tool, supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), may play a role in decreasing unexplained infant deaths ().

The study, published in JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, found the sleep planner tool, which combines risk assessment and safety planning, has the potential to improve the uptake of life-saving advice for families with infants at increased risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI). The sleep planner tool, using advice from the Lullaby Trust, UNICEF and NICE, provides a baby’s SUDI risk assessment at birth and a downloadable sleep plan for families.

Higher Rates of Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy

While rates of SUDI declined steeply in the 1990s and and to a lesser extent since, families living in the most deprived neighbourhoods continue to experience a disproportionately higher rate. Last year, Bristol’s National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) found that 42% of SUDIs occurred in deprived neighbourhoods, compared with 8% in the least deprived.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome / Cot Death
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is death of a baby, under one year of age that occurs in sleep and cannot be explained.

‘The sleep planner tool has the potential to improve the adherence to life-saving advice for families with infants at an elevated risk of sudden infant death syndrome. #SIDS #infanthealth’

The prototype baby sleep planner tool was tested by 22 health professionals, including health visitors, midwives and family nurses; 20 of whom were interviewed. The health professionals reported the tool allowed at-risk families to be identified for further support and improved their communication about risk with families. The testers suggested expanding the tool’s use to include information during pregnancy and for it to be available in different languages.

Did You Know?

The online tool identifies infants who may face an elevated risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

The health professionals used the planner tool with 58 families. Twenty parents were interviewed by the research team about their experiences with the tool. Families were positive about the tool, appreciated the trustworthy information and felt it was useful, appropriate and the individual baby sleep plans would be of benefit to them and other family members.

The study found the sleep planner tool, which combined risk assessment and safety planning, could improve the take up of life saving advice. Following the study’s findings, improvements have been made to the tool, which will be evaluated in a larger study - opening shortly. If successful the tool could be rolled out to families with infants at increased risk of SUDI.

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Dr Anna Pease, Research Fellow in the Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences (PHS), and the study’s corresponding author, said: “This risk assessment can be done at birth, to help health professionals know who to focus on with more safer sleep support. The tool also empowers families to understand their baby's needs and make a plan to keep them safe, which can be downloaded and shared with friends and family."

“Our study found health professionals and family members thought the tool was useful. Health professionals said it helped them to have better conversations about safer sleep and families said it helped them to understand why safer sleep was important and how it could keep their babies safe.”

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Peter Blair, Professor of Epidemiology and Statistics in Bristol Medical School: (PHS), added: “We know the 'safer sleep' campaigns have saved the lives of thousands of babies. Although SIDS is rare, we know that many babies who have died in recent years have at least one known risk present in the sleep environment, and that most of the babies who die are born into families experiencing the effects of poverty."

“We wanted to develop a web-based tool to help families follow safer sleep advice, especially for those families with babies at increased risk. We hope our baby sleep planner tool can support families with babies at risk and help save lives.”

New Genetic Link Found for Some Forms of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) claims the lives of more than 3,000 infants a year. A new genetic link has been found for some instances of SIDS, which could help treat SIDS patients in the future.

Reference:

A Risk Assessment and Planning Tool to Prevent Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy: Development and Evaluation of The Baby Sleep Planner - (https://pediatrics.jmir.org/2024/1/e49952)

Source-Eurekalert