About 4,500 infants die in the United.States each year from unknown causes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that half of those deaths are the result of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, characterized by a sudden and unexplained death in an otherwise healthy baby. While SIDS affects families of various socioeconomic levels and races, certain behaviors elevate your child's risk of dying from SIDS. Smoking while pregnant or around your newborn both contribute to SIDS risk, so it's important to note that there is no safe level of secondhand smoke for your baby.
Statistics and Factors
SIDS is the number one cause of death in children age 0 to 12 months, making it especially nerve-wracking for new parents. Unfortunately, the actual cause of SIDS is difficult to pinpoint, since a variety of factors contribute to unexpected death. Sleep position, suffocation, air quality, birth weight and secondhand smoke all contribute to a baby's risk. As a parent, it's your responsibility to follow all recommendations for a healthy baby to lower your infant's risk of dying as a result of SIDS.
How Smoking Contributes
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points out that the chemicals in secondhand smoke may affect the way your baby's brain regulates breathing. Regardless of the actual effect secondhand smoke has on your baby, higher levels of nicotine and cotinine in the baby's body after SIDS show that exposure to secondhand smoke is a factor contributing to the risk of SIDS overall. A 2007 report by the U.S. Surgeon General attributed at least 430 SIDS deaths per year directly to exposure to secondhand smoke, pointing out that secondhand smoke is also responsible for between 24,300 and 71,900 low birth weight and preterm deliveries -- both of which increase a baby's risk for SIDS.
Types of Secondhand Smoke
Two types of secondhand smoke affect your baby's development, lungs and risk for SIDS. Smoking while pregnant affects your baby's lung development, which contributes to poor lung function and low birth weight when your baby is born, both risk factors for SIDS. Even if you didn't smoke during your pregnancy, smoking around your baby still causes her to inhale the chemicals released into the air, putting her at higher risk for SIDS.
What to Do
The only way to protect your baby from being affected by secondhand smoke is to stop smoking altogether. Never smoke while pregnant and if you smoke after your baby is born, do so outdoors and well away from your baby. Prohibit smoking around your baby and ask that family members, friends and caretakers refrain from smoking. The best practice is to stop smoking altogether to avoid smoke inhalation from affecting both you and your baby.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Sudden Unexpected Infant Death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; May 2011
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke
- California Department of Health Services: SIDS and Secondhand Smoke
- Environmental Protection Agency: Health Effects of Exposure to Secondhand Smoke
- U.S. Surgeon General; Children and Secondhand Smoke Exposure; 2007
