Factors Potentiating the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Associated with the Prone Position

In infants the prone sleeping position has been found to be associated with an increased risk of the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in a number of retrospective studies 1 – 5 . We have reported that the habitual use of the prone sleeping position was also a risk factor for SIDS in the Tasmanian prospective cohort study as well as in our case-control study 6 . The rate of SIDS has declined in several communities after public campaigns urging the avoidance of the prone sleeping position for infants 7 . The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently recommended that healthy infants, when being . . .