11 DECEMBER 2007

Mattress wrapping doesn’t account for fall in SIDS deaths, study concludes

Lucy Ratcliffe
lratcliffe@nzdoctor.co.nz

(amended 24 January 2007)

An Auckland postal survey of 400 mothers has found wrapping cot mattresses in plastic does ot account for the continuing decline in SIDS mortality.
 
Mums who gave birth at National Women’s Hospital in Auckland between January 2005 and March 2005 were asked if they used plastic wrapping over their child’s mattress, and if so did the wrapping completely cover the mattress, in a study by Auckland University’s professor in child health research Ed Mitchell.
 
The response rate was 70 per cent and of the respondents 21.7 per cent wrapped mattresses in plastic.
 
Wrapping mattresses in thick polythene to combat SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) has been recommended by “toxic gas theory” advocates since 1994.
 
No official endorsement of mattress wrapping

Other studies have not  shown wrapped mattresses protect against SIDS and no New Zealand authorities endorse the practice nor is it part of the official SIDS prevention recommendations in any other country.
 
Even if the practice was 100 per cent effective, it could only have produced a reduction in mortality of about 22 per cent because of how many people are doing it, which compares with an actual reduction of 63 per cent observed in New Zealand, Professor Mitchell says.
 
Professor Mitchell’s study finds parents who used plastic wrapping on cot mattresses were more likely to be European, sleep their baby supine, not share a bed and be a non-smoker – all factors associated with a reduced risk of SIDS.
 
Marked decline in deaths
 
In New Zealand, mortality from SIDS declined substantially in 1991 due primarily to a change from prone to side sleeping position, Professor Mitchell says.
 
Since then, SIDS mortality has continued to decline and it’s been attributed to the change from a side to a back sleeping position as per the New Zealand SIDS prevention programme, he says.
 
Professor Mitchell’s study has been published online by the European Journal of Pediatrics in advance of print publication early next year.

For a copy of the full study contact Professor Mitchell by email: e.mitchell@auckland.ac.nz

« Daily News Archive

« Go Back