Advertisement

The American National Institutes of Health study of 907 mothers of low birth-weight babies revealed that one-third of the moms of the smallest babies who reported placing their one-month-old infants on their stomachs did so on their doctors' recommendations.

"Troubling news"
This is troubling news, the study authors say, because these very low birth-weight babies are at four times the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), compared to normal weight babies. And prone sleeping raises the risk of SIDS.

Neonatologists should address sleep position in pre-term infants before they are discharged from the neonatal ICU, says Dr Carl Hunt, one of the study authors and director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research.

The study, which appears in the March issue of Pediatrics, was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Smallest babies put to sleep on their bellies
According to the study results, the percentage of mothers of babies weighing less than 2,5 kg at birth - considered a low birth weight - who put their infants to sleep on their stomach at age one month dropped from 20 percent to 11 percent from 1995 to 1998.

"However, the very low birth-weight infants (those weighing less than 1,5 kg at birth) were substantially more likely to be put to sleep on their bellies, and that is concerning, given their very high risk of SIDS," says Dr Louis Vernacchio, the study's lead author.

Possible factors
One possible reason for this, a neonatal doctor speculates, is that premature babies often have lung problems. And because some studies have shown those babies breathe better when on their stomachs, health-care workers sometimes place them on their stomach in the hospital. New mothers, seeing this, might assume they should do the same at home.

"The mothers of prone sleepers did report that physicians were a major influence on their decision," says Dr John Kattwinkel, professor of paediatrics at the University of Virginia, USA. "But that doesn't say that the physician actually instructed the mother to place the baby prone."

"It may well be that the mothers observed their babies being managed prone in the hospital and therefore assumed that was the physician's recommendation. Mothers do follow what they observe as well as what they are told," he says.

Back, side or supine?
Adds Hunt: Parents should also know that babies are better off sleeping on their backs than their sides.

"In the smallest babies, the decline in prone sleeping was replaced almost entirely by side sleeping, while in the larger pre-terms it was replaced largely by supine sleeping. Overall, the risk of SIDS when sleeping side is twice that of infants sleeping supine," he says. – (HealthScout News)

Read more:
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
A new lullacry for babies
Sleeping through the night
 

Print this article on

Rate this article Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent

JOBS

Senior Secretary Gauteng - North/Sandton Infrastructure Resource Gauteng - Johannesburg Management Accountant R450,000-500,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial Manager R350,000-400,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial and Project Accountant R300,000-360,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial Accountant R380,000-420,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg SSIS Business Intelligence Specialists (SSIS; SSAS) R350,000-500,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - North/Sandton Financial Accountant R350,000-450,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - South Find more jobs Register your CV Post a job