About SIDS

What is SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)?
SIDS is the sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant, under one year of age, that remains unexplained after the performance of a thorough post-mortem evaluation including:

• An autopsy
• A review of the medical history
• A death scene investigation

SIDS Incidence:

• Leading cause of postneonatal death (1 month to 1 year of age)
• 2,246 deaths in the U.S. each year
• New York State had 71 deaths in 2007
• 90% of SIDS deaths occur before 6 months of age
• Most SIDS deaths happen when babies are between 2 months and 4 months of age.
• 30-40% to adolescent parents
• Boys have a higher incidence than girls: 60% males; 40% females
• African American babies are more than 2 times as likely to die of SIDS as white babies.
• American Indian/Alaska Native babies are nearly 3 times more likely to die of SIDS as white babies.

There are other causes of sudden infant death, such as:

• Infections
• Cardiac conditions
• Aspiration or airway obstruction
• Accidental suffocation/overlay
• Positional Asphyxia
• trauma
• Inborn error of metabolism

The vast majority are due to natural causes.