sudden infant death - a cause has been found

Let us hope very much that this new knowledge can translate into some preventative agent or strategy being found.

Very good news that a cause has been found. I hope it can lead to the prevention of this awful thing. It's every mother's nightmare.

Thankyou for that FarNorth, a very significant piece of research. Many years ago my friends newborn son died one afternoon while sleeping in his crib. She never ever really recovered from that and often questioned ‘ what did I do wrong? ‘ This research will reassure many parents that they were not to blame. She went on to have three girls . Sadly my friend died some years ago, , this knowledge would have certainly helped lighten the load for her.

How fantastic, this will bring comfort to so many.

My late husband was away at a conference with his boss when his boss received a call to say his daughter had died from SIDS at eighteen months. The tragedy for them was that they had agreed on 'sleep training' and she had been crying beforehand.

This is wonderful news. I hope it translates into a way of preventing these terrible tragedies.

The woman that discovered, her own child died from SIDS.

Very good news. It takes the blame off the parents.

I thought that the number deaths had fallen because people were told not to lay children on their stomachs as we had been told to do in the 70s.

Our granddaughters were pre mature born 24 weeks and in NICU units for weeks then sent home. Only for our sons actions giving CPR one of the twins would have died because of sleep apnea. She went back into the special care unit for two more weeks and was monitored constantly.

There may not be but I often thought there may be a connection to sudden death syndrome. I had a baby sister who died and two friends babies died with no explanation given. It was considered one of those things that happens my mum never got over my sisters death.

Excellent news. I really hope this info will help prevent further deaths. My firstborn was a preemie and at the time considered to be more at risk of SIDS. I still felt I had to check he was breathing normally during the night for years. (Also as a drunken young man, but that's another story!)

my granddaugther is 28 now but when she was 3 weeks old she was unrousable when due for a feed.... Doctor arrived swiftly laid her on his hand and lightly 'tickled' her toes and thank god she woke up.....doctor wrote a note and instructions to dial 999 if it happened a gain and give ..she was admitted to hospital the next day for thorough tests which proved nothng of the cause.......

That’s such a breakthrough. I hope it means an end to SIDS. I’ve known a number of mums who’ve lost their baby in such a tragic way. One who took her new baby to show him off to her former work colleagues and when she went to get him out of the pram, he was gone. Unbearable. 😥

So do I, Mokryna my lovely baby son died, not from Sids, but I know the pain it causes. Glad it shows the parents are not to blame.

So very sorry to hear that rafichagran.💐

Definitely a breakthrough, let's hope there is some way of preventing deaths now.
Such a tragedy for parents when there is no known cause.

Thank you for sharing that, FarNorth. Looks like a massive breakthrough.

As a teenager I clearly remember holding my baby brother whilst desperately trying to will him back to life. To know that a cause has at last been identified for SIDS will bring peace of mind for many parents whose baby has died from this, and hope that in the future there will be fewer deaths.

That the lead researcher used her own personal experience of it to pursue the cause of SIDS is testament to how even the worst of circumstances can produce positive outcomes. 👏🏻👏🏻

RIP Sally Clark
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Clark

I hope Sally Clark's husband has learnt of this breakthrough Cs783. Her case is the reason I disapprove of the death sentence, justice isn't always done.

This is only one of many causes of SIDS. When my children were born official advice was to lie babies on their side, so that they did not choke on their vomit, if they did so.

After this advice was changed to lying babies on their backs the incidence of SIDS dropped dramataically. Other causes have also been identified.

SIDS is like cancer an umbrella term for a single result from multipe causes.

rafichagran So sorry to hear of your loss

rafichagran, I am so sorry to hear of your sad experience.
Like other posters I thought immediately of Sally Clark - and the terrible power of incompetent "experts".
Hopefully, this awful tragedy can be averted in the future.

My nephew and partner lost their baby girl to SIDS at 2 months - the same day his sister's boy was born.
One more awful thing these grieving parents had to endure was the police arriving to tell them not to touch anything. They had to leave the house with their 2 boys and not return until a thorough investigation had happened. Unexplained death, you see - they could have killed their baby!

Well, some people do kill their children and try and pass it off as anything they can, but I do think the authorities should also deal with the parents of all potential SIDS death with kid gloves and assume the death was caused by SIDs until there is enough evidence to change their view.

I too am sorry for Sally Clark. She probably never got the chance to grieve. RIP