New calls for increased awareness of risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

David Mackintosh, Conservative MP for Northampton South, has joined baby charity The Lullaby Trust in urging local authorities to ensure health professionals in the East Midlands receive the training and support they need to deliver safer sleep messages to all families.

The call comes as part of Safer Sleep Week, the charity’s national campaign to raise awareness of SIDS (often referred to as cot death) and the lifesaving advice that parents can follow to reduce the risk of it occurring.

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, while the overall SIDS rates for England and Wales showed a 17 per cent decline since 2013 and a 39 per cent overall decline since 2004, the rates in The East Midlands have decreased more slowly showing only a four per cent reduction since 2004 and remaining higher than the national average.

Adding to this worrying picture is a national survey commissioned by charity The Lullaby Trust, which found that over 56 per cent of parents in the East Midlands are unsure of one of the most fundamental steps to reduce the risk of SIDS: sleeping a baby on its back for every sleep.

Evidence shows that babies who are slept on their back for every sleep are six times less likely to die from SIDS than those who sleep on their front or side.

Sleeping babies on their front was commonplace until the national “Back to Sleep” campaign in 1991. This campaign along with continued awareness raising of SIDS and safer sleep, by The Lullaby Trust, over the 25 years since, has led to a widespread change in how parents sleep their babies.

As a result SIDS rates in the UK have reduced by 85 per cent since 1991. However, the rates could still be much lower and research has shown that if all parents followed safer sleep advice, the lives of many more babies could be saved.

The survey shows 39 per cent of parents in the East Midlands are unsure whether they can sleep a baby on their front and 57 per cent are unsure whether to sleep a baby on their side.

The results are a troubling indication that parents are still not equipped with the information they need to reduce the risk of SIDS and that more needs to be done to ensure all parents in the East Midlands are aware of life-saving safer sleep advice.

Mr Mackintosh recognises the important role of health professionals and family workers who provide advice to new parents on how to sleep their baby safely and the need to ensure they receive the training and support to continue this vital work.