International Society for the Study and Prevention of Perinatal and Infant Death

The study is funded by the Health Research Council and led by Principal Investigator Prof. Ed Mitchell, University of Auckland, New Zealand. This study follows on from the ground-breaking research of 25 years ago which informed the practice of putting babies to sleep on their back. This is an in-depth study of infant care practices, especially around the sleep environment. The research will investigate sleeping practices in the baby’s life, together with baby’s antenatal and postnatal health and current living situation. The study aims to increase understanding about SUDI, including the impact of co-sleeping and whether it is possible for co-sleeping to occur safely, and the factors, if any, which might mitigate the effects of adverse social and environmental factors. Families of babies who die unexpectedly will be interviewed and detailed information about the sleep environment will be assessed, including death scene reconstruction. These babies are compared with control families/whānau (living babies) who are selected from the birth register to match the age, sex, ethnicity and obstetric hospital of a baby who has died of SUDI sometime before 2009. Families/whānau are invited to participate in the study, and in so doing will be contributing to a valuable body of information that will increase current knowledge enabling policy makers and health professionals to give informed advice that will lead to the prevention of infant deaths in the future.