Pearl Jeanine’s daughter was exactly a year old when she died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
“The day Ava passed, she was in perfect health,” said Jeanine. “She was asleep in her crib, she was normal, and nothing was out of the ordinary.”
Jeanine had triplets, two boys and one girl, who were born at 30 weeks and six days.
“They spent some time in the NICU,” said Jeanine. “They needed some respiratory support and then they were also there for feeding and growing. They never had any other kind of medical issues, no brain bleeds, like nothing like that.”
She said they were eventually discharged with perfect health and her premature babies were fine. She practiced all the safe sleep steps, joined groups on Facebook like SIDS sleep group or preventing SIDS and safe sleeping.
“When we saw a pediatrician, he was like ‘this girl is off the roofs,’ ” said Jeanine. “He said she’s doing everything a normal baby should be doing at their age. And she was more advanced than her brothers.”
According to Statistics Canada, between 2015 and 2020 roughly 1,700 infants under the age of one died each year in Canada. While some sleep-related deaths were due to natural reasons, the majority (83 per cent) were unanticipated and happened in otherwise healthy newborns.
One in every 15 of these deaths happened while the baby was sleeping.
Safer sleep week is run annually by The Lullaby Trust. It is to raise awareness about SIDS and to provide information to parents on how to lessen the danger.
The Lullaby Trust offers expert advice on safer baby sleep and provides emotional support to bereaved families. This year’s safer sleep week is commemorated on March 14 – March 20.
SIDS can happen at any time during the first year of life, although it is most common between the ages of two and four, with fewer SIDS deaths after six months. Infants that are male, premature, or have a low birth weight have an increased risk of SIDS.
The safest place for an infant to sleep is in a crib, cradle, or bassinet that fulfils current Canadian rules, according to the Joint Statement on Safe Sleep. Almost one-fifth of all sleep-related deaths (69 per cent) occurred on a surface not designed for infant sleep.
“When I think about it, I am like ‘maybe if I had them in my bed she wouldn’t have passed away,’ ” said Jeanine
“We did the initial autopsy after she died, they couldn’t find anything,” said Jeanine. “They had to do a toxicology, which took a year and a half and came back as undetermined. And so, they had nothing else to say other than that they couldn’t find anything wrong with my baby.”
Other causes may be involved in the sudden sleep-related newborn death. The complete circumstances behind them are not often understood. It is critical to be aware of the recommendations for safe sleep for infants in order to reduce the possibility of tragic death and harm according to the joint statement.
