Sudden Infant Death Syndrome SIDS and African Americans Essay

          SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, a leading cause of death in infants under the age of one, has left medical experts unable to clearly define sudden infant death syndrome. After thirty years of research, the medical field has not discovered definite causes for SIDS. Medical experts have suggested many theories that have been studied and debated.

Infant mortality rate constitutes the death of a baby before their first birthday. Mortality rates around the world differ tremendously with America leading the first world countries at an alarming rate of 6.1 deaths per 1,000 births. Conversely, Finland and Japan secure the last, most desirable position, with deaths totaling 2.3 per 1,000 births, as of 2010. (Ovaska-Few, 2015) In 2014, over 23,000 babies died in the United States. (CDC, 2016) Exploring the mortality rates in America brings light to a dire need for additional interventions and research as to why this developing nation has the highest rate of infant deaths before the age of 1 year old. African Americans face the worst outcomes of infant death compared to whites, Latino, and their Native American peers in North Carolina. (Ovaska-Few, 2015) This paper will explore why African American are the leading race for infant mortality and the steps that health communities need to take to address this devastating occurrence.

“Compared with European Americans, African American infants experience disproportionately high rates of low birth weight (LBW) and preterm delivery and are more than twice as likely to die during their 1st year of life”(Giscombé, C. L., & Lobel, M., 2005). The infant mortality rate for African Americans is 13.7 deaths per 1000 live births, more than twice the rate (5.7) for White Americans in the U.S. (Kung, Hoyert, Xu, & Murphy, 2008). A lot of the racial disparity in infant mortality can be explained by low birthweight and preterm delivery, which are also disproportionately and often experienced by African Americans (Martin et al., 2007).

associations in a pathway model connecting race-based discrimination, stress, and negative preterm birth outcomes in African American women.

with watching their child, they also have to face their new life. They now have

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome remains the leading cause of post-neonatal mortality (under the age of one) in developed countries. The causes of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome have been puzzling and research is being conducted to solve this catastrophic problem. Having a child under the age of one makes me very concerned, along with any other parent(s), that the possibility of SIDS could affect any infant at anytime, SIDS does not discriminate. I am seeking to find the possible causes to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome so in the future deaths could be avoided.

     When putting it all together the number of lives births each year, SIDS remains the leading cause of death in the United States among infants between one month and one year of age and second only to congenital anomalies as the leading overall cause of death for all infants less than one year of age.

According to the Iowa SIDS Foundation, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is the unforeseen death of an infant between the ages of one to twelve months old, without a known cause. Even after a thorough examination and autopsy, there is no recognizable cause of the death of the baby. Mayo Clinic states that scientists believe it could be linked to the portion of the brain that contains breathing but there is no proof that supports that statement. Scientists have been searching for

However, multiple risk factors are thought to increase the risk of an infant dying from SIDS. The textbook Essentials of Human Diseases and Conditions describes many of these contributing elements, such as, “smoking and drug abuse during the pregnancy, poor prenatal care, exposure of the infant to secondhand smoke, prematurity, recent upper respiratory tract infection in the infant, sleeping in the prone position, and a sibling with apnea”. Others in the medical field believe that there are genetic anomalies that can create a disposition to SIDS in an infant. One such individual is Debra Wood, R.N at the NYU-Langone Medical Center. In her article on SIDS, she proposes multiple genomic irregularities that could play a part in the eventual diagnosis of this disorder: “abnormalities in a section of the brain that controls breathing during sleep and waking, abnormalities in the control of heart rhythm, changes in how serotonin (a neurotransmitter) functions in the brain, changes in some components of the immune system, inadequate arousal response to breathing obstruction or asphyxia—a lack of oxygen or excess carbon dioxide in the body caused by interruption of breathing; may cause unconsciousness”. The Ohio Department of Health lists multiple maternal factors that are deemed important : placental abnormalities, low weight gain during pregnancy, anemia and a history of sexually transmitted disease (STD) or urinary tract infection (UTI). Environmental factors to be noted

Erin Wade is chief executive of Homeroom, a restaurant. Recently she had gotten multiple emails from her staff about harassment. Apparently there had been multiple counts of harassment against female employees, but Wade had never heard of them because the complaints were shut down by male managers. Wade was shocked to hear about this and decided to create a color coded system for reporting incidents. The system has since decreased harassment drastically. Wade advocates for more news stories with solutions to harassment problems rather than publishing even more redundant articles that focus on the harassers and how their lives are changed.

The two articles that I read for this week were Social Experiences and Daily Routines of African Americans Infants in Different Socioeconomic Contexts and Experience Facilitates the Emergence of Sharing Behavior Among 7.5- Month- Old Infants.

states SIDS as being "the sudden death of any infant or young child which is

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden and unexplained death of a baby while sleeping. It is sometimes called crib death, since SIDS babies usually die in their cribs. No one understands what causes the condition, although research suggests it could be associated with brain abnormalities in the areas that control awakening from sleep and breathing. It appears that boys are more prone to SIDS than girls, as are those from the black, Alaska Native, and American Indian races. The condition most often strikes in the first few months of an infant’s life.

Sometimes a baby who seems healthy passes away during sleep. No parent wants to wake up and find their infant not breathing. Sudden Infant Death disorder (SIDS) is one of the leading causes for death among newborn children one month to one year of age. Taking the lives of around 2,500 Infants every year in the United States. An extra 3,500 babies pass on every year from different reasons for sudden and surprising newborn child demise (SUID, or, suffocation). Sudden infant death is a tragic event for any parent or caregiver, and is no one's fault. SIDS can happen even when everything done right.

I chose this topic because 70% of our patients that come into our hospital are the African-American community. Infant mortality in this community is higher compared to others. My paper is geared towards to the improvement of infant mortality and have come up with several approaches to this problem. First and foremost the rate of pregnancies