Children's death in a dream. Sudden death syndrome: which babies are at risk. Disorders of the heart

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - an unexplained cause of death of children from birth to up to 1 year, sounds like a ridiculous sentence. It turns out that the risk of "death in the cradle" can be reduced by preventing dangerous factors.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or "crib death" name an inexplicable cause of death absolutely healthy child. Nothing bothered the kid, he was healthy and cheerful before going to bed.

And after a few hours, the child's heart stopped forever - the baby will never wake up again, will not smile at his mother, will not cry and will not be happy new toy. When shocked, heartbroken parents try to find out the cause of the tragedy, it turns out that the post-mortem examination cannot explain why the child died. Then SIDS becomes the only diagnosis. Posthumously.

Causes of sudden infant death syndrome

SIDS has not been fully studied. Scientists only shrug their shoulders when another tragedy happens to healthy child from a prosperous family. Therefore, the exact reasons sudden death babies have not yet been identified. We can only talk about the most probable reasons, among which:

sleep apnea
heart rhythm disorder
congenital pathology of the arteries supplying blood to the brain
a combination of a slight deterioration in well-being and a nervous shock
infectious processes in the body
occlusion of the vertebral artery

In addition to the causes of SIDS, it is worth noting some factors that can lead to tragedy:

during pregnancy, the mother smoked, took drugs, drank alcohol
premature baby
took place intrauterine delay fetal development
baby sleep on side or stomach
soft bed, use of a pillow to sleep
the presence of toys, nipples, bottles in the crib
high temperature in the bedroom
parents smoking

Smoking during pregnancy can cause SIDS

IMPORTANT: If it is not possible to eliminate the causes that do not depend on the circumstances and quality of life of the child, then every parent can eliminate most of the risk factors in order to protect the baby from SIDS.

Statistics of sudden infant death syndrome. Research on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Based on medical research recent years SIDS statistics appeared:

white children die twice as often as black children
sudden death occurs in 3 out of 1000 children
65% of dead children are male babies
90% of SIDS cases occur between 2 and 4 months of age
The most dangerous age for a baby is 13 weeks.
6 out of 10 cases of SIDS are caused by parents
40% of children on the eve of death showed signs of acute respiratory viral infections (runny nose, slight cough, slight increase in body temperature)
the most low rates SIDS in the Netherlands and Israel (0.1 per 1000), highest in Italy and Australia
most sudden child deaths occur during the cold season (October - March)

IMPORTANT: Even if, according to all indicators, the child is at risk for SIDS, you should not worry too much. It is necessary to make every effort to create favorable conditions for the baby. safe conditions life and just wait out the dangerous period.

Many infants had a slight fever the day before death.

Until what age is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome possible?

SIDS is considered the cause of death in children from newborn to one year. But in fact, the risk of the syndrome is significantly reduced with the advent of the child's ability to independently roll over, sit down, get up in the crib, that is, after six months.

When a child learns to turn, sit and crawl independently, the risk of SIDS will decrease dramatically.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Truth and Myths

The mystery of SIDS has not yet been solved, perhaps that is why it has acquired all sorts of scary stories and creepy stories, which in most cases are very far from the truth.

Co-sleeping. A common myth about the joint dream of mother and child convinces that a mother can crush an infant in a dream. Therefore, it is not recommended for the baby to sleep with the parents.

Video: Co-sleeping with a child

In fact, co-sleeping with your mother can prevent SIDS. The baby synchronizes his breathing with the mother's breathing and breathes with her during the sleep period. In addition, mothers of babies sleep very sensitively. If the child is nearby, the mother is able to instantly recognize even the slightest deviations in the breathing or behavior of her baby.

Co-sleeping with parents can cause SIDS in exceptional cases

IMPORTANT: In cases where the mother smokes and drinks alcohol, co-sleeping, on the contrary, greatly increases the risk of SIDS.

Swaddling. There is an opinion that children who are not swaddled die in a dream. Can swaddling protect a baby from SIDS? I guess, yes. After all, if the baby’s movements are not limited in any way, he can accidentally roll over or throw a blanket over his head.

IMPORTANT: Don't swaddle your baby too tight as this restricts the baby's breathing and increases the risk of SIDS.

Tight swaddling can cause SIDS

SIDS and pacifier. Many mothers refuse to use pacifiers, because, in their opinion, nothing good can be expected from a piece of rubber. However, the most common pacifier can reduce the risk of SIDS. The nipple will help the air to enter the respiratory system, even if the baby accidentally rolled over on his stomach or covered himself with a blanket.

IMPORTANT: The best time to start pacifier training is when breast-feeding will be fully adjusted. However, if the child refuses to take the pacifier, there is no need to insist.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and vaccinations

The vaccination start period coincides with the peak infant mortality due to SIDS. This fact began to arouse suspicion among anti-vaccination mothers. Still would. If some consider childhood vaccination the source of all the troubles and health problems, why not unknowingly blame it for the death of babies?

But statistics and research results prove otherwise: vaccinated children die in their sleep less often than their unvaccinated peers. In addition, unvaccinated children are much more likely to die from cardiac arrest or sleep apnea during an infectious disease.

SIDS has nothing to do with routine vaccinations

When does infant death syndrome turn out to be murder?

Many child deaths have quite understandable causes. In most cases, the intentional or unintentional careless behavior of their parents leads to the death of infants. When an autopsy and an expert panel reveal violent factors, the diagnosis: "SIDS" is changed to the sentence: "Murder."

Intentional suffocation. There are cases when a baby was deliberately strangled by one of his own parents. Angry at the prolonged loud crying, an adult covered the helpless baby with a heavy pillow, blocking the access of oxygen.

Death due to shaking. At the moments when adults shake the child by the shoulders, trying to calm him down in this way, they do not even imagine that their baby is on the verge of death. The neck of young children is still so weak that even a few sharp, strong head shakes can lead to serious brain damage. The consequences of such shaking are often loss of consciousness, coma and death.

Suffocation in sleep. Occurs unintentionally during co-sleeping mother and child. Women who take sleeping pills, prone to deep sleep or drink alcohol, do not put the child next to you. People say about such cases: "I slept a child."

Prevention of sudden infant death syndrome

Prevention of SIDS does not give a 100% guarantee that everything will be fine with the baby, because it is impossible to predict the tragedy. But by providing the child with the most favorable conditions, you can significantly reduce the risk of accidental death.

The child should only sleep on his back. Sleeping an infant on its tummy increases the possibility of accidental suffocation several times over. The baby can play for a short time lying on his stomach, but only in the presence of adults
The baby should not be overheated. Optimum temperature in the sleeping room should not exceed 22 ° C
You can not cover the baby with a blanket, it is better to use a baby sleeping bag
Tight swaddling should be avoided, as it squeezes chest and interfere with normal breathing.
It is unacceptable for parents to come strong odors tobacco, perfume or alcohol
You can’t put the child in your bed if the parents are very tired, take alcohol or sleeping pills, they can fall asleep soundly
So that the child does not choke on vomit, before going to bed you need to hold him in a column, giving him the opportunity to burp
Bumpers and canopies should not be used in the arena - all these fashionable and beautiful accessories prevent air from entering the crib
Do not leave toys, rattles and pacifiers in the baby's crib
The child's bed should not be too soft. The best option for baby sleep is a hard mattress
When the child falls asleep, you need to offer him a pacifier. Soothers significantly reduce the risk of SIDS
For at least six months, the child must sleep in the same room with their parents.

Correct posture for baby sleep - lying on the back

What to do if a child stops breathing?

If parents notice that the baby's breathing has stopped, they need to act immediately. You must immediately take the child in your arms and with one quick movement run your fingers along his spine in the direction from the bottom up, try to wake him up by slightly slowing him down.

Then it follows with intense, but at the same time, gentle movements to massage the earlobes, fingers on the arms and legs of the child. After such actions, breathing should return. After such a case, parents should contact the pediatrician as soon as possible.

IMPORTANT: If it was not possible to return the child's breath on his own, you need to urgently call the ambulance and proceed to resuscitation actions: artificial respiration and heart massage.

How to Avoid Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Tips and Feedback

Tip number 1. Special sensors are used to monitor the condition of infants at risk or suffering from frequent prolonged episodes of apnea. They operate on the principle of a baby monitor, only responding to long stops in the infant's breathing and deviations in the heart rhythm. Also, for the prevention of SIDS, clamps are used that prevent the child from rolling over on his stomach during sleep.

Tip number 2. You can avoid SIDS by giving your child Special attention in such situations:

any disease with fever, deterioration or difficulty in breathing
sluggish state, causeless fatigue, refusal to eat and drink
deep sleep after intense prolonged crying
sleep in a new bed, under unusual conditions
child age 2 - 4 months

Irina, mother of Ruslan (1 year old): I believe that the first prevention of SIDS is breastfeeding. Moreover, the baby should sleep with the mother. Of course, at first you will have to remove all the pillows and blankets away, which will cause some inconvenience. But the child will feel safe, hearing the mother’s breathing, and will be able to “tune in” to the same rhythm with her.

Elena, mother of Yasmina (5 months): I am very afraid of SIDS, so I did everything possible measures for its prevention: the daughter sleeps in our room in a separate bed, the mattress is hard, we constantly ventilate the room. In addition, my husband and I lead a healthy lifestyle - we do not drink and do not smoke. Therefore, I think that our baby is not in danger.

Vika, mother of Angelina (7 months): The daughter was born very premature. In the first months of her life, she often had breath holdings in her sleep. I was very afraid of losing the baby, so I literally was on duty at the baby’s bed at night, listening to her breathing. When it seemed to me that she was not breathing, I picked her up in my arms and woke her up. My girl was angry and crying, but I calmed down. Now the apnea attacks have stopped, my daughter has grown stronger and grown up. I'm not so afraid for her anymore.

Parents who have become familiar with the causes and factors contributing to the development of sudden infant death syndrome should try their best to reduce the likelihood of its occurrence. If the mother and father of the baby follow all the rules for caring for the child, we can confidently talk about the minimum risk of SIDS.

Video: "Death in the Cradle" Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Fetal death can occur: before childbirth (in the antenatal period), during childbirth and after them (in the postnatal period), It can be both non-violent and violent.

Nonviolent fetal death and may be due either to underdevelopment (non-viability) or the presence of malformations incompatible with life (anencephaly, eventration internal organs and so on.). In addition, non-violent death of the fetus and newborn can be caused by various pathological processes or birth trauma.

In more than half of all deaths, the cause of death is intrauterine asphyxia(which may be based on changes in both the fetus and the mother) from circulatory disorders, placenta previa and its infarction, true nodes of the umbilical cord, etc. In other cases, non-violent death can be caused by acute infectious diseases, some chronic diseases(for example, syphilis, etc.).

A common cause of death of a child during childbirth is birth trauma, which occurs more easily in immature fetuses, with a mother, with large fruit and in protracted labor. can be expressed in bone fractures, intracranial hemorrhage in the membranes and substance of the brain, in damage to the bones of the skeleton: clavicles, cervical vertebrae; in injuries of internal organs (subcapsular hematomas of the liver, apoplexy of the kidneys and adrenal glands, hemorrhages in the lung tissue, etc.).

violent neonatal death during childbirth is rare.

Here it should be noted the injuries that occur during self-help during childbirth, which occur outside the obstetric institution and without outside help. Trying to help herself, having no experience, a woman in labor with her hands damages the presenting part of the fetus, more often the head. In this case, abrasions, bruises, wounds, lower dislocations, and bone fractures can occur.

After childbirth, the violent death of newborns can be the result of infanticide, murder and accident.

As already indicated, infanticide can be passive (when a newborn is left without care and help) and active.

With active infanticide (and the murder of a newborn), death often occurs from various kinds mechanical asphyxia.

There are cases when a newborn is thrown into reservoirs, cesspools. In these cases, death occurs from hypothermia, etc. There are cases of death from closing the respiratory openings with hands, soft objects. It should be borne in mind that during childbirth outside a hospital, when the woman in labor is alone and cannot provide necessary assistance newborn, he can bury his face in a soft object and suffocate.

As a method of infanticide, strangulation with a noose can be used, which can be used as rags, twine, sometimes parts of the mother's linen or clothes.

It should be borne in mind that sometimes a loop of the umbilical cord is found around the baby's neck. There may be entanglement of the umbilical cord around the neck during childbirth. At the same time, the possibility of killing a newborn by strangulation with the umbilical cord cannot be ruled out.

Mechanical damage as a way of infanticide is less common. There may be damage to vital important organs blunt or sharp objects. Blunt force injuries must be distinguished from birth injury and injuries that occur during the so-called rapid childbirth.

Control questions
1. What kind of baby is considered a newborn?
2. Define the concept of "infanticide".
3. How to determine if full-term and mature?
4. How to set a deadline intrauterine life newborn?
5. What is the difference between "fetus" and "newborn baby"?
6. How can you tell if a baby was born alive or dead?
7. What confirms the viability of a newborn baby?
8. How to determine the duration of extrauterine life?
9. What are the most common causes of infant death:
a) before childbirth;
b) during childbirth;
c) after childbirth.

What mother doesn't listen to her baby's breathing while he sleeps in his crib? Indeed, from the mere thought that in the morning the baby may not wake up, her heart shrinks from fear. What is the reason? It's all about the syndrome of infantile sudden death, which almost every mother has heard about. Lack of information and little knowledge of this condition give rise to misconceptions. Let's see what it is - "death in the cradle."

Sudden and unexpected death of a child without apparent reason given a terrifying name - "death in the cradle." In this case, the child's body is necessarily subjected to a pathoanatomical examination. If the autopsy reveals no objective reasons death is referred to as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Sudden death can occur in absolutely any child and in any place. No matter how scary it may sound, it happens that a child dies in a stroller during a walk, in a car, or even in the arms of his mother. However, most often they are found dead in the crib.

How to reduce the risk?

Although the causes of "cradle death" remain a mystery, there are certain rules, adhering to which parents can reduce the risk.

The position of the child in a dream. It is necessary from the very beginning to put the child to sleep on his back, since sleeping on his side is not safe for him. Studies by scientists have shown that for children sleeping on their stomachs, the risk of sudden death is 9 times higher than for those who sleep on their backs.
Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of sudden death in the baby. Ideally, if neither parent smokes. In no case should you smoke in any apartment, and even more so in the same room with a child! Parents who smoke should not take their children to bed.
Temperature regime. Baby wrapped in blankets warm clothes, overheats very easily. It is considered normal if the hands and feet of a child (as well as an adult) are slightly cool. It is not at all necessary to create warmer conditions for it; it is enough to maintain a temperature of 18 0 C in the room where the child plays and sleeps.
Covering the baby's head. Lying in the crib, the child should almost touch the legs of her back. Before the child reaches the age of 12 months, the use of a pillow is not recommended. The crib should be covered with a sheet, and the child, if necessary, covered with blankets in several layers.
Appeal for medical care when the child's condition worsens. Weakened children need to be given more fluids and constantly monitor their temperature so that they do not overheat. Children's health needs to be monitored very carefully, because it can be difficult to immediately determine that a child has a serious illness.

Sudden death syndrome (SDS) is one of the mysteries of medicine. They talk about it in the case when the death of a child occurs unexpectedly against the background of complete well-being at the age of up to 2 years, and at autopsy the cause of death remains unknown. Death of newborns older than 1 year is extremely rare.

Today, SHS is the 3rd leading cause of infant mortality after perinatal conditions.(the period from to the 7th day of extrauterine life) and congenital anomalies. The frequency is 1:500 children.

Despite the efforts of doctors around the world, today there are more questions than answers in this problem. Therefore, we can only talk about hypotheses. But do not sound the alarm to parents, therefore, this does not mean that this can happen to your child, but as they say, "informed means armed." And now we will look at the risk factors that most often lead to SHS.

Risk Factors for Sudden Death Syndrome

Risk factors leading to SHS:

1. Hereditary factor. In families that have lost a child from SHS, the recurrence of this tragedy is 7 times more likely.

2. Approximately half of the infants who died in this way had symptoms within 48 hours before death. viral infection upper respiratory tract, many of them died due to the so-called action of the respiratory syncytial virus.

3. Studies on the topic of SHS show that in the body of babies who died with SHS, the level of the hormone serotonin (the hormone of happiness) was significantly reduced, which is directly involved in many vital physiological processes, both cardiac and respiratory. Therefore, a lack of serotonin is possible and is physiological cause disrupting the processes of respiration and heartbeat, which leads to cessation of breathing and cardiac activity, followed by SHS.

4. Also significant factors increased risk SHS are cases of stillbirth in previous pregnancies.

5. Children of Indian and African American families are at risk of SHS two to three times more often than children from European families.

6. The male sex of the baby. Girls die a little less often than boys. According to statistics, for every 1 girl who died with a diagnosis of SHS, there are 1.5 boys. In part, this ratio can be explained by the fact that immunity in infancy is slightly higher in girls than in boys.

7. Thymomegaly, i.e. an increase in the thymus gland is a characteristic pathoanatomical sign in children who died from SHS. This is due to the fact that the thymus compresses the mediastinal organs and releases a hormone-like substance that lowers blood pressure and affects metabolic processes in the muscle, all of which subsequently leads to SHS.

8. Environmentally unfriendly environment.

9. Mothers who did not seek prenatal care from doctors.

10. Bad habits parents:, alcoholism, drug addiction ( healthy lifestyle life should be followed 2-3 years before the birth of the child). If the baby somehow encounters tobacco products (smoke, nicotine in mother's milk), this significantly weakens him. immune system and reduces respiratory function, which can lead to SHS.

11. Young age mother (less than 17 years old).

12. Short interval between births (less than 12-14 months).

15. Low level parents' education.

16. bad care parents for the baby (the mother ignores the crying of the child, feels displeasure from the need to care for the baby, devotes little time to him).

17. Mother's illnesses during,).

18. Prematurity (a child born at a period of less than 37 weeks), low birth weight (less than 2 kg).

19. Late dates(the baby must be breastfed for the first 30 minutes in the delivery room).

20., which is an "environmental disaster" for the child. SHS is much less common if the baby is breastfed before 6 months of age. Therefore, you need to continue as much as possible. And further naturally normalizes the process of hormone production in infants - including the hormone serotonin.

21. Putting the baby to sleep on his stomach. In the first year of life, until he begins to actively roll over, he should not sleep on his stomach. Even if the baby already knows how to roll over on his tummy, let him toss and turn, but when he falls asleep, you need to turn him on his back. There are several strong arguments in favor of the supine position during sleep: a) Sleeping on the stomach increases the risk of so-called "rebreathing", when oxygen circulation is difficult and the infant begins to inhale the same air that he exhaled before. And catastrophically lacking oxygen, his heart gradually slows down and stops; b) When the baby sleeps on his stomach face down, he involuntarily squeezes his lower jaw, and since the joints and ligaments are not yet developed enough to hold it without the slightest displacement. Thus, the top Airways constrict and breathing becomes difficult, which also leads to SHS.

22. Vitamin E deficiency, which leads to increased vascular permeability and respiratory dysfunction.

23. 2-4-6 months of life are the periods of maximum risk of developing SHS. This is due to the fact that at this age the child is already able to independently turn face down in a dream, but their survival instincts have not yet developed. That is, if the baby does not have enough oxygen, he will not take any maneuver (will not turn around, will not cry, will not throw up his head) to save himself. Babies under 2 months old are not able to roll over by themselves, and in children over 4 months old, the instinct of self-preservation gradually develops. After 10 months, cases of SHS were practically not observed.

24. In the morning hours (4-6 hours). The respiratory center, which controls the processes of breathing and awakening, is not yet sufficiently developed in babies, and therefore babies cannot adequately respond to suffocation and does not manifest itself in any way during it.

25. Cold seasons (autumn, winter). At this time, the tension of the adaptive reserves of the body increases.

26. Weekend and holidays. Almost half of the cases of SHS were registered these days, this is due to the fact that parents tend to take a break from worries and want to have fun and the child does not receive proper attention.

Prevention of SHS

As a result of many years of research into the causes of infant mortality World Organization Health (WHO) has developed recommendations for child care to reduce the risk of SHS:

respiratory infections

It should also be noted that the implementation of these WHO recommendations by parents can reduce the infant mortality rate by about 20%.

In well-developed Western countries, cardiorespiratory monitors are actively used, which monitor the heart rate and respiratory rate, and if a child has any failure in his sleep, the device starts to “squeal”. The only thing we can do is to organize a large-scale educational campaign for parents. The results of studying the problem require both the improvement of the system for monitoring SHS cases by the health authorities and the development of a wide educational program for parents all over the world.

I hope that this article will not go unnoticed by parents and expectant mothers and will help you and your baby.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden death of an apparently healthy child under the age of 1 year as a result of respiratory arrest for an unexplained reason.

Cases of infant death due to unexplained causes have been repeatedly described in the medical literature, but SIDS was introduced as a postmortem diagnosis only in the late 1960s.

Sudden death in a dream is due to various factors(the presence of malformations in the child, unnoticed by the parents infectious diseases and trauma), but these factors can be identified by studying the history of the disease and autopsy. When the conducted studies do not allow to explain the cause of the death of the baby, SIDS is indicated in the death certificate (this is a diagnosis of exclusion).

ICD 10 classifies sudden infant death syndrome as a class of conditions characterized as unspecified, arising from an unknown cause (code R95.0 with an indication of an autopsy, and code R95.9 without such an indication).

Analyzing causes and risks this phenomenon in infants under one year of age, pediatricians around the world have launched campaigns since the 1980s to help reduce the number of deaths in the cradle. Medicine is still not able to answer why sudden infant death occurs in a dream, but thanks to the recommendations of pediatricians, the number of cases of SIDS in the United States has halved, and in Russia it has decreased by 75%.

Statistics

Some researchers believe that the problem is an "achievement" of civilization, since the number of SIDS in developed countries is much higher than in third world countries.