By JADE RUSSELL

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

SUDDEN unexplained infant deaths (SUID) have unfortunately been the heart-breaking reality for some parents, however, Dr Valencia Johnson is urging people not to put the blame on themselves.

“I would try to discourage the person from blaming themselves, even though it’s hard. But counseling is very important. I can’t see how else you would get through something like that. Because this is something that causes divorces, families to break up because you have people pointing the finger at each other. And it’s hard because the death of a child is just excruciating pain,” Dr Johnson told The Tribune yesterday.

Dr Johnson, consultant paediatrician of Healthy kids Paediatrics at Oaktree Medical Centre, said SUIDs is the death of a child that’s under the age of one that can’t be explained before an investigation is done.

“That’s before they do an autopsy. Usually, the child is found where they sleep.”

She explained in these cases there are no initial signs of what has caused the child’s death, adding that many times the infant is just found dead.

Dr Johnson said during her medical career she has witnessed at least three cases of SUID.

“It more often happens in children who are over one month but under age four months. And I think it’s the most common cause of death under the age of one year.”

According to the website Safe to Sleep, “SUID includes all unexpected deaths: those without a clear cause, such as SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), and those from a known cause, such as suffocation. One-half of all SUID cases are SIDS. Many unexpected infant deaths are accidents, but a disease or something done on purpose can also cause a baby to die suddenly and unexpectedly.”

It has been found that having infants sleep on their backs and in an optimised sleeping environment can lower the incidents of SUID, Dr Johnson said.

In terms of tips for the safety of infants, she cautioned expecting mothers not to smoke. She also said parents should prepare a crib for the child and remove objects that can cause the infant to be smothered.

“We discourage co-sleeping, so the child shouldn’t be sleeping in the bed with the parents. And then you want them (infants) to be within the crib; no pillows, no blankets, no bumpers.

“Because all of those things can allow for the child to smother. And then when they (parents) put them to sleep, they shouldn’t be putting them on their tummy or their side. We rest them on their back to sleep at all times. There is a thing called the ‘back to sleep campaign’ where we were trying to encourage parents to put children on their back from the American Academy of Pediatrics,” she said.

However, Dr Johnson stressed that if an infant dies of SUID, parents should seek counseling and join support groups.

She continued: “If it’s your child and it happens in your house it’s hard not to blame yourself. You have to go through the grieving process. I always encourage anybody who has experienced any kind of loss to get counseling. In our culture, I would say we don’t put mental health as a priority.

“And grief counseling is very important. We have people who are depressed, and they’re not diagnosed. But counseling helps and you could also become a part of a support group.”

For her part, press liaison officer Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings urged parents to ensure their children are left in responsible and cautious hands.

“Make sure they know what to look out for if something is going wrong with an infant. Infants can’t speak, it’s more visual with them. Listening to their cries, watching how they move, to see if something is really going on with them,” CSP Skippings said yesterday.

“And so that’s why you keep hearing me say ‘responsible.’”

She added that routine checks of infants should also be done by the person entrusted with their care.

This comes after a three-month-old boy was found unresponsive at a local daycare centre on Monday.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said around 8am, the child’s mother left the infant at the daycare in southern New Providence. The centre’s director later made “routine checks” and found the baby lifeless.

EMS were called and the baby was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Police said that efforts to revive the infant were unsuccessful and he was declared dead. Police said while the baby had no visible signs of injury, an autopsy will be held to determine the exact cause of death.