'Sofa deaths' of sleeping babies rise 400%

THE number of infant deaths caused by parents falling asleep on the sofa with their babies has risen more than fourfold in just two decades, researchers warned yesterday.

The latest findings on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) have prompted fresh advice from medical experts urging parents to avoid nodding off with their children on the couch. And the Scottish Executive promised to heed the new research in a forthcoming review of guidelines to parents.

The report, published in the Lancet, also highlighted living in a deprived area, smoking during and after pregnancy and bottle feeding as risk factors.

The Scottish Cot Death Trust said new mothers, tired out by the demands of motherhood, could easily nod off on the sofa, and called for the advice to be widely distributed - especially in poorer areas, where the incidence of SIDS is higher.

The latest study, led by Professor Peter Fleming of the Royal Hospital for Children in Bristol, looked at how previous campaigns advising parents not to put children to sleep on their fronts, or to sleep in bed with adults, had influenced the factors that had contributed to SIDS over the past 20 years.

It used data from 369 unexpected infant deaths between 1984 and 2003 in the Avon area.

Although the number of deaths in the parental bed had fallen, the number of co-sleeping deaths on a sofa had increased fourfold in those 19 years.

Prof Fleming said: "Although the reasons for the rise in deaths are unclear, we strongly recommend that parents avoid this sleeping environment."

The researchers found that, of the children who died from SIDS, 74 per cent were from poorer backgrounds, compared with 47 per cent 19 years earlier. The proportion of deaths linked to maternal smoking had also increased, from 57 per cent to 86 per cent.

The proportion of premature babies among the deaths rose from 12 per cent to 34 per cent, while the proportion who were breastfed fell from 50 per cent to 26 per cent.

Prof Fleming added: "Our data clearly show that SIDS is now largely confined to deprived families, and if we exclude deaths on sofas, the number of babies dying while in bed has fallen by 50 per cent over the past 20 years."

Dr Jacobus Van Wouwe, of the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research in Leiden, and Professor Remy Hirasing, of the VU Medical Centre in Amsterdam, said the dramatic decline in SIDS was a "major public health success".

However, campaigns to reduce death rates - such as that in 1987 in the Netherlands and in the UK in 1991 - came too late for 10,000 infants in the UK and 50,000 in the rest of Europe.

They said questions were raised about what took countries with otherwise excellent health-care records so long to take action.

Lisa Cohen, the chief executive of the Scottish Cot Death Trust, said tired mothers often fell asleep on the sofa with their children. But Scottish research also found this could increase the risk of SIDS, with 16 cases in Scotland between 1996 and 2000.

"This is a real problem," she said. "We need parents to be aware of the risk.

"You can have your baby in a sofa or an armchair for a cuddle, but you should always put them back in a crib or cot, preferably in your room, to sleep."

Ms Cohen also said that public health messages, such as advice to put children to sleep on their backs, should be spread in deprived areas, where a high proportion of sudden infant deaths in Scotland occurred.

"A genuine sudden infant death cannot be prevented, but there are things you can do to reduce the risk," she added.

A spokesman for the Executive said: "The Scottish Executive, in association with the Scottish Cot Death Trust, is about to review the cot death guidance issued to parents. This will take on board any new evidence."