What Is SIDS

SIDS stands for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. As its very name suggests, SIDS refers to an unexpected death of an infant, with no known health problems or outside injury. At the same time, it is characterized by an unexplained cause of death, even after conducting a scrupulous forensic autopsy and a comprehensive investigation of the death scene. In simple words, there is no understandable reason behind the death of the child, who is between one month and one year of age. This syndrome is also known by the name of cot death, especially in United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, India, South Africa and New Zealand.

 

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is characterized by the very fact that it does not have a known cause. Infact, SIDS is not only sudden and unexpected, but also unexplainable. An infant is declared to have been a victim of this syndrome only when the cause of death remains unexplained even after an adequate postmortem investigation has been performed. The investigation usually includes an autopsy; examination of the scene as well as circumstances of death; and analysis of the medical history of the infant as well as his/her family. However, the following conditions are believed to contribute to SIDS.

 

While there is no known causes behind SIDS, parents are advised to take some precautions before as well as after the birth of the baby, to prevent such an occurrence. Let us explore them in detail.