Introduction
Breast milk is the perfect food for the baby because it contains the right nutrients. Although mothers know breastfeeding offers many benefits to the baby, they may not know that breastmilk reduces the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Often, mothers choose to balance breastfeeding with formula thinking it is healthier for the baby. New findings that indicate breastfeeding infants for the first year can reduce rates of SIDS is good news for parents. Feeding infants breast milk reduces the risk of SID compared to formula for the first year of life.
The relationship between infant feeding practices and SIDS is examined in this paper. According to Duncan and Byard (2018), SIDS is the sudden and unexplained demise of newborns below one year. The cause of death remained a mystery even after a thorough probe that included an autopsy, reviews of the infants’ medical records, and clinical history. The rest of the paper is organized into the background of SIDS, the topic’s significance, the problem and purpose statements, the PICOT question, and the conclusion.
Background
Sudden death in healthy infants is not a phenomenon of modern times, as cases of unexpected deaths have been recorded for several years. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome was coined in 1969 to draw attention to a group of infants with similar clinical characteristics who died abruptly. Although the specific cause of SIDS is uncertain, it can be attributed to a combination of factors. According to experts, SIDS affects infants vulnerable to specific environmental stresses and occurs at a particular developmental stage (Goldwater, 2022; Perrone et al., 2021). Minor diseases or respiratory obstructions, tobacco smoke, and becoming tangled in bedding are examples of environmental stresses. One of the most common causes of SIDS, yet preventable, is the supine sleeping position (Kim & Pearson-Shaver, 2021). Since the introduction of safe sleeping campaigns, SIDS cases have decreased by 30-83% (Duncan & Byard, 2018). New information indicates breastfeeding may lower the risk of SIDS in the first year of a baby’s life.
A lot of the vitamins and minerals that newborns need are naturally present in breast milk. These vitamins and minerals are essential for preventing diseases and improving a child’s immunity. For example, gastrointestinal and respiratory infections contribute to the risk of SIDS, but breastfeeding infants get fewer respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. Several studies acknowledge breastfeeding as one of the variables that reduce the incidence of SIDS, including those conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) (Landa-Rivera et al., 2021; Thompson et al., 2017). For instance, AAP recommends breastfeeding as a SIDS prevention approach, including not sharing a bed with infants as a safe sleeping practice. Other studies link high rates of SIDS for infants feeding on formula, but other studies have conflicted with the findings (Krepis et al., 2021). The following section highlights the significance of this study and its importance in nursing practice.
Significance
Years of studies have established that breastfeeding is one of the techniques for reducing SIDS risk. According to Thompson et al. (2017), exclusive breastfeeding during the first two months of life reduced the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome by fifty percent. The protective benefit of breastfeeding improves with exclusivity, without the introduction of formula, for any period (Thompson et al., 2017). One possible explanation for this result is that breastfed newborns wake up more readily than formula-fed infants (Thompson et al., 2017). The ability to wake up quickly is a crucial survival mechanism that avoids SIDS-related mortality. In addition to increasing baby alertness, breast milk protects against infections associated with SIDS. The longer a baby is exclusively breastfed, the greater the preventive effects against diseases, as with many other breastfeeding advantages.
The topic is worth researching because breastfeeding has been shown to reduce SIDS by 50 percent. However, the condition remains a top concern for parents despite a significant decline in SIDS infant deaths since the 1990s. Data and statistics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that 3400 newborns younger than one year old died without an apparent cause (CDC, 2022). The three most common types of reported sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) included unknown cause, SIDS, and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (CDC, 2022). According to data collected by the CDC (2022), about 1389 deaths were attributed to SIDS in 2020. The number of fatalities shows that more research is required to establish the cause of unexpected infant deaths and how to prevent these deaths. Since nurses are actively involved in supervising and supporting mothers in a clinical setting, the research will provide valuable information for supporting and educating breastfeeding mothers.
The research can help enlighten nurses on breastfeeding as one factor contributing to low SIDS rates. Nurses can apply the research findings to sensitize mothers by promoting, protecting, and supporting breastfeeding. It includes using this research information to support breastfeeding, aid mothers, and protect them from actions that may hinder breastfeeding and its consequences. Infants are more vulnerable between zero and six months; therefore, mothers need to understand the potential risks of feeding their newborns on formula or solid foods.
Failure to sufficiently breastfeed a newborn below one year has been associated with SIDS. Mothers abandoning breastfeeding too early or overdependent on formula or solid food during the first year of an infant risk exposing the child to SIDS. Data collected by the CDC (2022) has shown that about 1389 infant deaths in the U.S. were attributed to SIDS in 2020. If the role of breastfeeding in reducing the SIDS rate is overlooked, more unexpected deaths of newborns may increase in the subsequent years. The next three sections state the research problem, purpose statements, and the PICOT question.
Problem Statement
The problem identified in the proposal is that formula or alternatives to nursing put infants under a year old at risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Purpose Statement
This research aims to assess the relationship between breastfeeding and SIDS rates compared to a formula in the first year of life.
PICOT Question
The PICOT question is, in infants (P), how does breastmilk (I) affect the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (O) as compared to formula (C) in the first year of life (T)?
Conclusion
Breastfeeding is vital for early development because it is essential for growth and immunity. Research in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) has indicated breastfeeding in infants below one year can reduce the risks of SIDS. Therefore, this study seeks to establish the relationship between breastfeeding and low rates of SIDS compared to formula. The research is necessary because it examines interventions for current mortality rates attributed to unexpected and unexplained deaths in newborns and provides new information that will help nurses better care for mothers.
References
CDC. (2022). Data and Statistics – SIDS and SUID. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web.
Duncan, J., & Byard, R. W. (2018). SIDS sudden infant and early childhood death: The past, the present and the future. The University Of Adelaide, South Australia University Of Adelaide Press.
Goldwater, P. N. (2022). The science (or nonscience) of research into Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Frontiers in Pediatrics, 10(865051). Web.
Kim, H., & Pearson-Shaver, A. L. (2021). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. Web.
Krepis, P., Krepi, A., Tsolia, M., Iliodromiti, Z., Boutsikou, T., Iacovidou, N., & Soldatou, A. (2021). Infant safe sleep practices and adherence to the updated AAP recommendations. Journal of Translational Science, 7(6), 1–5. Web.
Landa-Rivera, J. L., Pérez-Pérez, J., González-Núñez, M. del P., Gil-Miralles, R. A., Jover-Escolano, Y., & Fernández-Pan Astacio, V. (2021). Population-based survey showing that breastfed babies have a lower frequency of risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome than non-breastfed babies. Breastfeeding Medicine, 17(2). Web.
Perrone, S., Lembo, C., Moretti, S., Prezioso, G., Buonocore, G., Toscani, G., Marinelli, F., Nonnis-Marzano, F., & Esposito, S. (2021). sudden infant death syndrome: Beyond risk factors. Life, 11(3), 184. Web.
Thompson, J., Tanabe, K., Moon, R. Y., Mitchell, E. A., McGarvey, C., Tappin, D., Blair, P. S., & Hauck, F. R. (2017). Duration of breastfeeding and risk of SIDS: An individual participant data meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 140(5), 1–24. Web.