As a new midwife, all of this SIDS info is new to me, and a lot to remember! Recently we had an inservice at our hospital on SIDS, and the representitive from the SIDS council said that the single most effective way of reducing the risk of your baby dying from SIDS is "Back to Sleep". Here is what she told us:
Tummy sleeping in babies is bad for two reasons. 1. It is more likely that a child will choke while stomach sleeping. Why? Look at baby's anatomy while laying on his/her back. The trachea (wind pipe) is upmost. The oesophagus (leading to the stomach) is lowest. There is a pocket in the pharynx where saliva and excretions are pooled, and if the baby is asleep and not swallowing, the pool overflows... where would it flow if the baby was on his back? Gravity would cause the fluid to trickle down his oesophagus since it is LOWER than the trachea. When a baby is on his stomach, the trachea is lower, and therefore, any excretions trickling down, would go into the wind pipe, and into the lungs. While on the stomach, the pocket that allows pooling of saliva is almost gone (because of the anatomy), so saliva is able to freely trickle down. 2. A stomach sleep is known to be a much deeper sleep. One of the known risk factors for SIDS is a deeper sleep, and the associated periodic respirations. In a deep sleep, a baby cannot rouse himself as easily, and cannot take cues from the environment to recommence breathing in periodic respiration. HTH Jo -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
