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Mothers' awareness of risk-reducing measures for the sudden infant death syndrome
D Fearnley1, M Gantley, D P Davies
1Department of Child Health, University of Wales College of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff, UK.
A questionnaire was given to 37 mothers of infants under 12 months admitted to a hospital paediatric ward in August 1992 to assess their awareness of current risk-reducing recommendations for the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and the role of health professionals in providing this information. Three mothers had not heard of SIDS; all were Bangladeshi. Twenty-seven mentioned lateral or supine lying, 18 overheating and 15 smoking. Only one mother actually volunteered that, as a risk-reducing measure, medical advice should be promptly sought if the baby became unwell. About one half of the mothers could name three of the four 'official' risk-reducing recommendations. In only seven mothers could there be recalled any information being given by health workers (hospital and community midwives, health visitor, general practitioner, etc.). For the best possible benefit to be derived from current risk-reducing campaigns we need to improve our understanding of how parents obtain relevant information and what role health professionals should have in this.
A questionnaire was given to 37 mothers of infants under 12 months admitted to a hospital paediatric ward in August 1992 to assess their awareness of current risk-reducing recommendations for the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and the role of health professionals in providing this information. Three mothers had not heard of SIDS; all were Bangladeshi. Twenty-seven mentioned lateral or supine lying, 18 overheating and 15 smoking. Only one mother actually volunteered that, as a risk-reducing measure, medical advice should be promptly sought if the baby became unwell. About one half of the mothers could name three of the four 'official' risk-reducing recommendations. In only seven mothers could there be recalled any information being given by health workers (hospital and community midwives, health visitor, general practitioner, etc.). For the best possible benefit to be derived from current risk-reducing campaigns we need to improve our understanding of how parents obtain relevant information and what role health professionals should have in this.