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 SIDS

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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) 

SIDS is defined as the sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant younger than 1 year of age that remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation.  It is the leading cause of death for infants during the post neonatal period. 

Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA 68-1-1102), passed in 1983, states that the Department of Health will provide counseling and information for families who experience a SIDS death. Each county in the State of Tennessee is required to have a designated staff person who will contact the family to offer a home visit and resource information concerning Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).  The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department’s Case Management Services (CMS) Department provides a designated program coordinator for this purpose. 

Provided services include: 

·        Attempts to follow-up every SIDS death in the Chattanooga and Hamilton County area  and to offer support to parents and their families by offering published materials, a home visit, and referral to grief counseling and parent support groups (when available).

·        Maintenance of a current list of community agencies offering grief counseling and parent support groups (when available) for those who have experienced an infant death.

Safe Sleep: How to Reduce Your Baby’s Risk of SIDS

While SIDS is not preventable, there are steps that parents and caregivers can take to reduce the risk of SIDS deaths:

1. Put healthy babies to sleep on their backs.
2. Do not expose babies to cigarette smoke during and after pregnancy.
3. Make sleeping environment safe by using firm bedding.  Keep potentially hazardous items (pillows, cushions, stuffed animals) away from the baby.
4. Co-sleeping or bed sharing (an infant sleeping on the same surface with another person, either child or adult) is not recommended.
5. Avoid overheating the infant.  Infant sleepers may be considered since they eliminate the need for any covers over the baby.
6. Breastfeeding is thought to reduce SIDS because of less deep sleep and frequent brief awakenings.

For  more information, please call (423) 209-8080

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