Assessment of Infant Sleeping Position --- Selected States, 1996:
Preliminary CDC 1997 data on SIDS

10/23/98

Assessment of Infant Sleeping Position --- Selected States, 1996

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of postneonatal mortality in the United States. In 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended that all healthy babies be put to sleep either on their back or side to reduce the risk for SIDS. In 1994, a national "Back to Sleep" education campaign was initiated to encourage the public and health-care providers to put babies to sleep on their back or side. In November 1996, the AAP modified its policy to preferentially recommend putting infants on their back because of the lower risk for SIDS associated with this position relative to the side position. To assess adherence to recommendations for infant sleeping position, CDC analyzed population-based data on the usual infant sleeping position for 1996 births by race from 10 states participating in the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS).

A survey of mothers in 10 states, who had recently given birth, found a twofold difference between the highest and lowest state percentages of babies usually put to sleep on their stomachs. Additionally, black mothers were more likely than white mothers (11%-54% higher) to put their babies to sleep on their stomachs. For American Indians in two states (Washington and Oklahoma), 16.0% and 33.9% of respondents reported putting their babies to sleep on their stomachs. In most states, most respondents put their babies to sleep on their sides, a position considered "safer" than the stomach sleep position, but not as effective for preventing SIDS as the back sleep position. This report summarizes the results of that analysis and indicates that infant sleeping position varied by state and race.

Read the CDC report! CDC Morbidity and Mortality Report; October 23, 1998 / Vol. 47 / No. 41
ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Publications/mmwr/wk/mm4741.pdf

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10/7/98

National Vital Statistics Report:
Births and Deaths: Preliminary Data for 1997

The infant mortality rate for Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which accounted for 10 percent of all infant deaths, declined by almost 12 per-cent. While deaths due to SIDS have been declining since 1989, part of the decline in 1997 may be attributable to delays in receiving cause-of-death information for these deaths in the preliminary data file. CDC final data for 1996: 3,060 deaths due to SIDS (79 deaths per 100,000 live births). CDC preliminary data for 1997: 2,705 deaths due to SIDS (69 deaths per 100,000 live births for all races, 138 deaths per 100,000 live births for blacks, and 58 deaths per 100,000 live births for whites).

Read the CDC report! National Vital Statistics Reports; Vol 47, No. 4 (10/7/98)
http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/data/nvsr47_4.pdf

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