Back in November of 2009, I wrote a blog entitled, "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; Vital Information Every Parent Should Know.
"; Under the section entitled Misconceptions about SIDS, I wrote that there was no evidence that breast feeding protects an infant from SIDS.
This prompted a flurry of activity from some of the leading breast feeding experts in the world, who I am happy to say read my blog.
Among some of the prominent individuals was Jennifer Matranga, RN, a past Chair and Member at large for the Connecticut Breastfeeding Coalition.
I am extremely grateful that she was able to provide me with multiple recent articles correcting this information, which I would like to forward to my readers.
Articles that were cited were from FSID (Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths in the UK) which is one of the leading baby charity organizations dedicated to preventing sudden deaths and promoting infant health.
Their research showed that babies who were at least partly breast fed were one-third less likely to die of "cot death" than babies who were never breast fed.
The USA Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2007 also found that breast feeding reduced the risk of SIDS compared with never breast fed and breast fed should be recommended as a protective measure against SIDS.
Other studies found were from Pediatrics, March 2009 by Vennemann who examined 333 infants who died of SIDS with 988 matched controls and found that both partial breast fed and exclusive breast fed were both associated with a reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
The reduced risk was roughly 50% at all ages throughout infancy and therefore it was strongly encouraged to breast feed through the first 6 months of life.
In the International Journal of Epidemiology in 1993, a New Zealand Cot Death Study of 485 infants also showed a substantial association of breast feeding with a lowered risk of SIDS after controlling for other SIDS associated factors.
Why with so much evidence was there a statement made regarding the questionable relationship between breast feeding and the lowered risk of SIDS? Some authors found a large increase in SIDS in certain countries but no parallel decrease in breast feeding during the same time frame.
Many of the authors in the earlier literature have reported an increase risk of SIDS with bottle fed infants and other researchers have found no such effect.
There are some researchers, using the same set of data who have reached conflicting conclusions.
SIDS is regarded as multifactorial in origin.
An article by McVea in Journal of Human Lactation in 2000 reviewed the literature published between 1966 and 1997.
The overall conclusion was that breast feeding is associated with a 50% reduction in SIDS risk but the quality of the studies varied.
Many of the studies did not exclude other confounding factors such as socioeconomic status, exposure to cigarette smoke, maternal education, or sleeping position.
Other studies had different criteria for the diagnoses of SIDS and different time frames for breast feeding.
Perhaps it was not breast feeding per se but the fact that babies who are breast fed have mothers that provide an overall healthier environment for their children in terms of skills, abilities, and emotional attachments.
Breast feeding implies closer mother infant proximity with increased sensory contact and high responsitivity on the part of the mother-which may be the explanation for the decrease in SIDS.
Perhaps it is the fact that breast feeding reduces the risk of infection in newborns which may explain the protective effect.
Bacterial toxins may play a role in SIDS, and the presence of certain IgA antibodies found in breast milk may neutralize these toxins and provide a protective effect not found in bottle fed infants.
Other explanations might involve the supine position as the universally chosen position for breast feeding mothers, which is known to be the optimal position in the prevention of SIDS.
Beauté de Maman Nipple Gel Contains No Pesticides In summary: Breast feeding is associated with a lower risk of post neonatal death.
SIDS is the leading cause of mortality in infants 1 to 12 months in the United States.
Recent studies have shown a relationship between breast feeding and a reduced risk of SIDS.
It may be that breast feeding alone or a combination of other variables associated with breast feeding that may account for this finding.
Current guidelines recommend breast feeding for a minimum of 6 months.
I wish to thank all those individuals who are reading my blog and helping me keep on my toes with the most accurate and up to date information for all pregnant women.