Breastfeeding linked to reduced risk of SIDS

Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who breastfeed evidently lower the chances that their baby might die of sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS, according to a German study.

Dr. M. M. Vennemann, from the University of Munster, and colleagues therefore recommend that public health messages aimed at SIDS risk-reduction should encourage women to breastfeed their infant through 6 months of age.

At present, some countries include breastfeeding recommendations in their SIDS prevention campaigns, while others do not, the investigator point out in their report in the medical journal Pediatrics. The goal of the current study was to confirm that breastfeeding is, in fact, tied to a reduced risk of SIDS.

The study included 333 infants who died of SIDS and 998 age-matched "control" infants.

At 2 weeks of age, 83 percent of controls were being breastfed compared to only 50 percent of SIDS infants. At 1 month of age, corresponding rates were 72 percent versus 40 percent

Exclusive breastfeeding at 1 month cut the risk of SIDS in half. Partial breastfeeding at this point was also tied to a reduced risk, although that could have been a chance finding.

These results add "to the body of evidence showing that breastfeeding reduces the risk of SIDS, and that this protection continues as long as the infant is breastfed," the investigators conclude.

SOURCE: Pediatrics, March 2009.

Breastfeeding Halves SIDS Risk

(NaturalNews) Babies who are breastfed for at least six months are significantly less likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than those who are formula fed, according to a study conducted by researchers from the German Study of Sudden Infant Death Study Group and the University of Munster, Germany, and published in the journal Pediatrics.

The study adds "to the body of evidence showing that breastfeeding reduces the risk of SIDS, and that this protection continues as long as the infant is breastfed," the researchers wrote.

The researchers compared breastfeeding rates among 333 infants who died of SIDS and 998 children of similar age who did not die. They found that while 83 percent of surviving infants were being breastfed at two weeks of age, only 50 percent of those who died of SIDS were. The rate of breastfeeding at one month was 72 percent among surviving children and only 40 percent among those who died of SIDS. This corresponded to a 50 percent lower risk of SIDS among children who were exclusively breastfed at the age of one month.

"In the last 20 years, the prevention campaigns to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome were very successful," the researchers wrote. "In some countries the advice to breastfeed is included in the campaigns' messages, but in other countries it is not."

Women should be encouraged to breastfeed exclusively until their children are at least six months old, the researchers said.

"In our study, 73 percent of the infants died before six months of age," they wrote. "The implication of our findings is that breastfeeding should be continued until the infant is six months of age and the risk of SIDS is low. Because breastfeeding rates are low in the socially deprived sections of our population, there should be special programs to encourage mothers of low socioeconomic status to breastfeed their infants not only for the established benefits of breastfeeding for the mother and infant but also to reduce the risk of SIDS in their infants."

Sources for this story include: www.reuters.com; www.medscape.com.

Breastfeeding noted to reduce risk of SIDS

Breastfeeding reduced the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) by about 50% at all ages throughout infancy in a study just published in the March issue of the Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Infant survival curves showed that both partial breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding were associated with a reduced risk of SIDS.

This finding is consistent with several previous studies in the past decade that have noted a relation between lack of breastfeeding and SIDS.

The authors state: “This large study … adds to the body of evidence showing that breastfeeding reduces the risk of SIDS, and that this protection continues as long as the infant is breastfed.”

This study, done in Germany, was controlled for such factors as maternal smoking in pregnancy, maternal family status, maternal age at delivery, socioeconomic status, previous live births, infant birth weight, bed sharing in last night, pillow in infant’s bed, additional heating in last sleep, sleep position, and pacifier use.

The authors continue: “The implication of our findings is that these infants would especially benefit from being breastfed at this early age and that breastfeeding should be continued until the infant is 6 months of age and the risk of SIDS is low. Breastfeeding is recommended by the World Health Organization on other grounds. The morbidity and mortality of infants is reduced when they are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life. Being breastfed also reduces the risk of acute otitis media, atopic eczema, gastrointestinal infections, and lower respiratory infections it seems somewhat surprising that breastfeeding has not been included in the American Academy of Pediatrics and United Kingdom Department of Health SIDS prevention recommendations.”

“In the last 20 years, the prevention campaigns to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome were very successful,” conclude M. M. Vennemann, MD, MPH, PD, fromUniversity of Münster in Münster, Germany, and colleagues from the German Study of Sudden Infant Death Study Group. “In some countries the advice to breastfeed is included in the campaigns’ messages, but in other countries it is not….We recommend including the advice to breastfeed through 6 months of age in sudden infant death syndrome risk-reduction messages.”

Photo: babykingdom.co.uk

http://blogs.babycenter.com/momformation/2009/03/22/breastfeeding-noted-to-reduce-risk-of-sids/

Breastfeeding Reduces Risk of SIDS

Women who breastfeed lower the chances that their baby might die of sudden infant death syndrome, also known as SIDS.

A new study looked at more than 300 infants who died of SIDS and nearly 1,000 age-matched "control" infants. At 2 weeks of age, 83 percent of controls were being breastfed, compared to only 50 percent of SIDS infants.

Exclusive breastfeeding at one month cut the risk of SIDS in half. Partial breastfeeding at this point was also tied to a reduced risk.

Sources:
Reuters March 2, 2009