Introduction
Public health nurses (PHN) play a critical role in providing healthcare for individuals, families, and society through delivering medical service, intervention, preventive care, and health education. In this respect, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) poses a significant concern for the US population, requiring enhanced public awareness and careful consideration to be appropriately addressed. This paper aims at developing a health promotion plan that investigates SIDS and related best health improvement practices. In addition, the plan will explore current population health data and set healthcare objectives in cooperation with the supposed community.
Problem Analyzation
SIDS is the unexpected death of an outwardly healthy infant aged under one year. Babies usually die quietly and without evidence of a struggle, mostly at night. A diagnosis of SIDS is set when the infant’s death fails to be unexplained even after an autopsy, thorough death scene investigation, and clinical history review. SIDS is guilt at over 2,300 babies’ deaths every year, which is the third primary cause of infant mortality (“Sudden Infant Death Syndrome,” n.d.). Nevertheless, SIDS rates substantially dropped between 1990 and 2018, from 130 deaths to 35 deaths per 100,000 live births (“SUID and SIDS,” 2020). The main contributor to this positive tendency was the “Back to Sleep,” or “Safe to Sleep,” campaign launched by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in 1994.
Although the SIDS’s cause is obscure, researchers revealed some important risk factors and preventive measures, the understanding of which can help save a baby. In particular, these factors include low birth weight, breathing and heart rate problems, respiratory infection, sleeping on the stomach or on a soft surface, and infant’s overheating. There are specific maternal factors, especially when mothers smoke cigarettes, use drugs or alcohol, or have inadequate prenatal care.
Additionally, newborns of mothers who experience their first pregnancy at the age of less than 20 are more predisposed to SIDS. Scientists recently also discovered that SIDS may be connected with defects in the part of a baby’s brain responsible for breathing in sleep and awakening (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2020). It is worth noting that SIDS mostly affects male babies and those between one and four months old (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2020). Finally, neonates born premature or who have siblings who died of SIDS are at higher risk of the syndrome.
Health Promotion within American Indians/Alaska Natives
Although the mortality because of SIDS has considerably decreased over recent decades, American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) is still the most vulnerable demographic group in the United States. AIAN’s neonates are twice more likely to die of SIDS than non-Hispanic white babies; in 2017, SIDS caused 76.8 deaths per 100,000 live births among AIAN (“Infant mortality,” 2019). This alarming mortality rate is usually conditioned by several factors.
In particular, AIAN’s median income accounts for 69 percent that of the general US population, and about 27 percent live below the poverty line (Bartick & Tomori, 2019). As of 2017, AIAN mothers were 2.8 times more likely to obtain late or no antenatal care compared to non-Hispanic white (“Infant mortality,” 2019). Due to poverty, bedsharing is more prevalent than among Whites, and breastfeeding rates are among the lowest in the USA (Bartick &Tomori, 2019). Furthermore, in the same year, the portion of AIAN mothers smoking during pregnancy comprised 16.4, while this rate in Non-Hispanic White was 10.1 (“Infant mortality,” 2019). These phenomena reflect historical trauma emerging from colonization and proceeding discrimination and racism.
The Establishment of Agreed-upon Health Goals
Presently, medical professionals have clear and simple recommendations to reduce SIDS risk, which have already demonstrated their efficiency. According to the Healthy People 2020 (2010), a plan should target four objectives: favoring longer lives, eliminating healthcare disparities, shaping a conducive environment, and promoting life quality. In this regard, concerning SIDS, the American Academy of Pediatrics firmly advises “supine placement on a firm surface without soft bedding, bumpers, or positioners” (Carlin & Moon, 2017, p. E4)
In addition, babies should sleep in a room with at least one parent and avoid bed-sharing, overheating, and maternal smoking or alcohol during and after pregnancy. Breastfeeding as long as possible, prenatal care for expectant mothers, and infants’ immunization are also recommended. Moreover, clinical personnel, especially in the neonatal intensive care unit, should promote SIDS guidelines in office visits and hospitals. Lastly, nurses can urge for additional, more comprehensive research on SIDS.
In conclusion, this paper has developed a health promotion plan exploring SIDS, related best health improvement practices, and current population health data, and containing goals directed at promoting community health. Although the SIDS’s cause is obscure, a shared assumption is that it is vital to put babies on their back to sleep to prevent the hazard. Besides, researchers indicate that low birth weight, breathing and heart rate problems, respiratory infection, maternal smoking and alcohol use can be significant risk factors. AIAN is still the most vulnerable demographic group in the United States, primarily stipulated by predominant poverty, the absence of timely prenatal care, and widespread mother smoking. In this context, neonates’ supine placement on a firm surface, avoiding bed-sharing, overheating, maternal substance abuse, and immunization are highly recommended.
References
Bartick, M., & Tomori, C. (2019). Sudden infant death and social justice: A syndemics approach. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 15(1), e12652. Web.
Carlin, R. F., & Moon, R. Y. (2017). Risk factors, protective factors, and current recommendations to reduce Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. JAMA Pediatrics, 171(2), 175-180.
Healthy People 2020. (2010). The US Department of Health and Human Services. Web.
Infant mortality and American Indians/Alaska natives. (2019). The US Department of Health & Human Services. Web.
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2020). Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): Symptoms & causes. Mayo Clinic.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): Symptoms & causes. (n.d.). Boston Children’s Hospital. Web.
SUID and SIDS: Data and statistics. (2020). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Web.