TUESDAY, May 21, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- A new study offers yet another possible benefit to breast milk -- a reduced risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
The Swedish research, published in the June issue of the Archives of Disease in Childhood, found that babies who were breast-fed exclusively for fewer than eight weeks had a three to five times greater risk of dying from SIDS than babies who were breast-fed exclusively for four months or more.
SIDS is the sudden, inexplicable death of a seemingly healthy baby.
"This study takes us another step in understanding this relatively rare disorder," says Dr. David Horwitz, a clinical associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine and Medical Center.
"This study is just another reason why mothers should consider breast-feeding," adds Dr. Bennett Kaye, an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at Children's Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Kaye says the benefits of breast-feeding are numerous, and include reduced ear, lung and gastrointestinal infections.
For the new study, researchers from Queen Silvia Hospital in Sweden studied the medical records of 244 infants who died of SIDS in Norway and Sweden between 1992 and 1995. They compared these children to 869 healthy babies matched for age and sex, and examined factors such as length of time breast-fed, maternal smoking, sleeping position and use of a pacifier.
They discovered that infants who were breast-fed exclusively for less than four weeks were five times more likely to die of SIDS than babies who were breast-fed exclusively for four months or more. Babies fed breast milk for four to eight weeks had nearly a four times higher risk of SIDS.
Horwitz says it's important to point out the study doesn't show a cause-and-effect relationship between not breast-feeding and SIDS, only an association between the two. He says it's important for mothers who can't breast-feed to realize that even though this study found an increased risk, other studies have not, so the link between breast-feeding and SIDS remains unresolved.
He also points out the incidence of SIDS is still extremely rare. Three thousand infants die from SIDS every year in the United States, the SIDS Alliance reports. However, more than 4 million babies are born here annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While there are no surefire ways to prevent SIDS, there are steps parents can take to reduce the risk it will happen to their baby. The most important, Kaye and Horwitz say, is putting a baby to sleep on its back.
"Sleep position is clearly the most effective single intervention," Kaye says.
Also, make sure you don't smoke or let anyone else smoke around the baby. Don't let the baby get overheated. Use a firm mattress and don't have any loose bedding in with the baby, the SIDS Alliance recommends.
What To Do: To learn more about SIDS and reducing the risk, visit the SIDS Alliance or the American SIDS Institute. This article from the University of Michigan details more benefits of breast-feeding.
