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I saw the other topic concerning infants dying while sleeping with parents. And it made me think about something that really bothers me. Why can't we call SIDS what it really is...suffocation. At least in most cases, it seems to me that SIDS is the SUFFOCATION of an infant by bedding, a person etc.
On St. Jude's website, the definition of SIDS is: The sudden and unexpected death of a healthy child who is younger than one year old, usually during sleep. The cause of SIDS is not known. Also called crib death. So, how is it that SIDS has become a catch all for infants who die. It seems to me to be just plain laziness not to properly define an infant's death. I personally think that I would have been more vigilant as a parent when my kids were infants had I known the actual number of deaths due to suffocation etc. The term SIDS seems to me to be a way of deflecting the blame from a person (someone covering an infant with too many blankets etc.) and placing the blame on fate. So what do you think? Maybe I'm wrong. I'd love to hear your thoughts. |
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 3 kids, all girls, 17, 15 and 3 |
I agree that sometimes an infant dies and it is caused by ignorance or carelessness of a parent. But the fact is that some parents do everything they are advised to, like placing the infant on their back and making sure no loose bedding or stuffed toys are in the crib, not smoking cigarettes, etc. only to still go into the room and find the infant has died in their crib/sleeping area. So to label SIDS as suffocation seems like it may be a cruel term to apply to all babies that are found dead. The parents know if they followed all the recommended advisories or not and any normal loving parent would be living through their own hell knowing they were careless. The specific woman in the subject posted by Deebird was an exception. This woman didn't learn a thing from her mistakes and was SUPER careless being drunk in bed with infants, I believe she should have been prosecuted....not nessecarily jailed but at least found guilty of child endangerment and monitored by DCFS. Hopefully she will not have anymore children.
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 Gainesville 4: Boy (10), Girl (7), Boy (23 months), Boy (3 months) |
Here is one local mom's story about SIDS. Thought you might be interested in the read.
http://momblog.gainesville.com/default.asp?item=640417&mode=blog <a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="http://b1.lilypie.com/NzoMm7.png" alt="Lilypie 1st Birthday Ticker" border="0" /></a> |
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 California 3 boys (7, 5, and 3) |
I agree with klmorg. I don't think suffocation is always the case. There could be unknown underlying health reasons that causes an infant to stop breathing during the night. But when it is suffocation that could have been prevented (like that mom who went to bed drunk) then maybe it shouldn't be categorized as SIDS, and just be called what it is.
I read the blog that Suzy shared. It is so heartbreaking!! I could not even imagine going through that. A family friend of mine growing up had triplets. On Christmas morning one year, she woke to find one of them had died. She hadn't done anything differently with that baby than the other two. Marianne |
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I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that every SID death is from suffocation. It just seems that in a majority of the cases I hear about, the death was due to suffocation so I used that as the main example. I think if we were to separate infant deaths into categories rather than lumping all of them together, we as parents would have a better sense of how to avoid some of these accidents. Those that accidentally aided in their child's death could learn from their mistakes. And, those parents that did nothing wrong who's baby simply stopped breathing could rest in the knowledge that they couldn't have done anything differently.
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As a mother who lost her baby to SIDS, I find your post offensive and hurtful. SIDS is NOT suffocation. There are physiological signatures in the lungs and airways, as well as testing oxygen levels in the baby's blood, that will determine whether or not they were suffocated. If, indeed, they were suffocated, it will be indicated on the death certificate.
It is hard enough for us mothers to plan the funerals of perfectly healthy babies; must we also have to endure the criticism of other's speculation? SIDS is an absence of diagnosis for cause of death. That means, NO ONE KNOWS WHY OUR BABIES DIED. So, we have no choice but to blame ourselves. And others have no choice but to blame the mother. I think that if you educate yourself on what SIDS/SUDS really is/isn't, you will cease to be bothered by this subject. |
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3 kids, all girls, 17, 15 and 3 |
How horrible to have lost a baby to SIDS. I also lost an infant ... my first baby and she was only 3 hours old. She was born full term with an uneventful pregnancy and complete prenatal care. I went through the horror of planning a funeral and burying my child. My condolences to you. I don't believe ANYONE was trying to imply that all cases were suspicious, or that there were not any true SIDS cases. We were simply stating our frustration at the ignorance of our society and of some parents in this matter. In the other thread, which is titled "New Moms Beware" in this same category, we were discussing a mom that was not careful or cautious and had 'accidentally' killed three of her children by suffocation and the authorities had ruled all deaths as SIDS. Again I am so sorry for your loss. I believe an effort needs to be made to clarify the difference between an accidental death...such as a suffocation, and the distinct difference as in death from SIDS when NO CAUSE OF DEATH CAN BE DETERMINED. I believe if it is not SIDS it should not be called SIDS on a death certificate. A parent such as the one in the for mentioned article should not have the privelidge of saying her chilren died from SIDS when it was proven it was suffocation in ALL 3 CASES. Either way you look at it it's a tragedy that no one should have to go through. |
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3 kids, all girls, 17, 15 and 3 |
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GainesvilleMoms.com moderator Stacy Fournier is a Gator and an aspiring journalist. But she does her most important work at home as a wife and mommy to a doll-playing, dress-up-loving daughter born March 2006.
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