Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be going through

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

And if you want to follow along with written notes on this topic,

you can follow along at zero definals.com slash sids.

Or in the neonatology section of the Zero-definals paediatrics book.

So let's get straight into it.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, is an unexplained death in an infant.

It's sometimes referred to as cot death.

This usually occurs within the first six months of life. There are a few risk

factors for SIDS and these are prematurity, a low birth weight, smoking during pregnancy,

and male babies, although there's only a slight increased risk compared with female babies.

Let's talk about ways that you can minimize the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Measures to reduce the risk include putting the baby on their back when they're not directly

supervised, keeping the head of the baby out from under the covers, placing the baby at the foot of the bed to prevent them

from sliding down and under their blanket, keeping the cot clear of lots of toys and blankets,

maintaining a comfortable room temperature, for example, between 16 and 20 degrees, avoiding smoking smoking and also avoiding handling the baby after smoking because smoke stays on clothes.

Avoid co-sleeping with the baby, particularly on a sofa or a chair.

And if you are co-sleeping with a baby, avoiding alcohol, drugs, smoking, sleeping tablets,

or deep sleeping adults.

A tom tip for you?

Discussing sudden infant death syndrome is a common OSCE station in your exams,

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