Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

SIDS
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden death of an infant from 1 month to 1 year in age that remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation. SIDS is the major cause of death in infants from 1 month to 1 year of age, with most deaths occurring between 2 and 4 months.

Awareness
Public Health Nurses work with pregnant and parenting clients through home visitation and provide SIDS awareness and education. SIDS is not preventable, but the risk can be reduced by placing the baby on his or her back to sleep on a firm surface, by making sure the baby has a smoke-free environment, and by keeping the baby from becoming overheated.

Helping You Through
Like any sudden death, a SIDS death leaves a family with a sense of shock and loss and an urgent need to understand what happened. Not knowing why this happened, the suddenness of the death, and possible involvement of law enforcement make a SIDS death even more difficult.

Public Health Nurses are available to help families through the grieving process, interviews, autopsy and medical terminology. The nurses will stay involved for as long as the family wants them, sometimes long after the case has been closed.