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LRH Pediatrician Published SIDS DocumentaryDr. Dorothy Kelly, Pediatrician at Littleton Regional Hospital’s North Country Pediatrics and President-Elect of the American Association of SIDS Institute co-authored “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS),” with Betty McEntire, President of American SIDS Institute. Dr. Kelly specializes in general pediatrics as well as treatment of allergies and lung problems such as asthma, chronic cough and other pulmonary disorders. Dr. Kelly treats children with severe breath holding spells; sleep disorders, and sleep apnea.
The following is an excerpt from the SIDS article that is available on-line at McGraw-Hill Access Science Encyclopedia of Science and Technology On-Line:
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden and unexpected death of an infant less than one year of age whose death remains unexplained after a postmortem investigation, including an autopsy, death scene inspection, and a medical history. In a typical situation, a parent checks on a child who is thought to be sleeping only to find the infant has died.
The largest numbers of infants die when they are between 2 and 4 months of age, with 95% of deaths occurring between birth and 6 months. Although sudden infant death syndrome can happen to any infant, there is a higher incidence among minority groups (American Indian/Alaskan natives and African Americans in the United States), premature infants, low-birth-weight infants, infants with little or no prenatal care, infants born to teenage mothers, infants of multiple gestations such as twins and triplets, siblings of SIDS infants, and infants who have had an apparent life-threatening event of not breathing (ALTE).
Since the year 2000, the rate of SIDS in the United States has been about 0.6 per 1000 infant live births. This means that between 2000 and 2500 deaths per year are attributed to SIDS. During the 1990s, the rate of SIDS dropped by over 50%. However, even with this decreased incidence, in the United States SIDS remains the number one cause of deaths to infants between one month and one year of life. The reason for the decrease in the number of deaths in the 1990s is most likely due to public health campaigns to reduce SIDS risk factors by government and nonprofit agencies such as the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American SIDS Institute, and other SIDS organizations.
Dr. Dorothy Kelly stressed, “It is important for parents and caregivers to do all they can to reduce the risk of SIDS. Every infant should be kept smoke-free before and after birth, and should be placed on his/her back in a bare crib. The crib should be kept free of pillows, covers, positioning devices, bumper pads, toys and other soft objects. The mattress should be firm and well fitted. All infants should have a safe sleep environment. It is one of the best means available at present to reduce the risk of SIDS.”
This article can be found in its entirety at www.accessscience.com or for additional information about SIDS, visit http://www.sids.org/. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Dorothy Kelly, please call North Country Pediatrics at Littleton Regional Hospital at (603) 444-2803. Office hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m. until Noon and after hours urgent care until 7:00 p.m. weekdays.
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