Two days ago we were commenting on a recent study about the baby's bedtime and sudden death that says babies who share a bed with parents are five times more likely to suffer from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) than those babies who sleep In a crib As I said, just as there are studies that say one thing, there are studies that say another, and UNICEF He wanted to make his position clear by stating that will not change your recommendations regarding the colecho.
Unicef has been recommending safe school for many years, explaining the importance of breastfeeding and sharing a room and / or bed to promote breastfeeding on demand, as measures, both, protective against sudden death and preventive against possible future diseases. After the publication of the commented study Unicef made a statement of intent explaining why he doesn't trust the conclusions of the study and why his recommendations won't change.
What does UNICEF think of the aforementioned study?
In a friendly statement, he explained that five studies from different countries conducted between 1987 and 2003 were used for the investigation. Since it is the largest study to date that attempts to resolve the question of whether or not the colecho is dangerous and suspicious of increase the risk of SIDS, the logical thing would have been that the most recent data had also been used, since a study dating back to 2009 showed that there was a very close relationship between colecho and recent alcohol and drug use by parents and that none of the five articles analyzed provided data on drug use, and two of the five did on the use of alcohol. As the idea was to determine if the colecho is dangerous in normal circumstances, without associated risk factors, they do not believe from UNICEF that with the data of the five studies any conclusion can be reached as there are not enough data.
In addition, when they talk about alcohol they refer only to alcohol taken by the mother, but it is not taken into account that parents can also drink alcohol and can also endanger babies If they are sleeping next to you. In addition, only 20% of the total number of mothers had alcohol consumption data, making conclusions for the total of them.
In the study and the final conclusions comment that the risk of sudden death for babies under three months who share a bed with their parents is up to five times higher. However, the control group did not seem to have the same conditions as the controlled group, since they were girls, all sleeping in the crib in a supine position and without other risk factors present. When treating the control group of a group with a very low risk, any variable crossed with the group magnifies its risk. For example, if a mother smokes and shares a bed with her baby, she has a 20 times greater risk of SIDS. This means that talking about five times more likely can be exaggerated. UNICEF comments that the risk is considerably less than 2.7 times (half of that 5) and that could even not be meaningful. In fact, they do not quite understand why they focused only on tobacco and alcohol as bias factors in the results when there are other variables that make colecho much more dangerous.
They also comment that as many studies explain that sleeping with the baby in the same bed can be dangerous, many mothers choose to breastfeed the baby on a sofa or in an armchair, and sometimes even use them to sleep, and that this is a mistake, well the risk is greater than if they shared the bed. These data have not been taken into account in this study.
For all this, UNICEF concludes the following
Unicef says that there is a lot of evidence that shows that breastfeeding and colecho are closely linked, and that it is important to explain to the parents what the risks and benefits of the practice are, to minimize all possible risks arising from sharing the bed with a baby.
To date, the summary of what the scientific evidence says is that:
- The safest place where a baby can sleep is in a crib next to the parents bed.
- Sleeping with the baby on the couch is dangerous for the baby's life.
- The baby should not share the bed with anyone who is a smoker, has consumed alcohol or has used drugs that make them more asleep.
Further, the incidence of SMSL is higher in the following groups:
- Parents of low socioeconomic groups.
- Parents who currently abuse alcohol or drugs.
- Young mothers with more than one child.
- Premature babies and those with low birth weight.
Parents in these situations need a personalized service with individual recommendations for the idiosyncrasy of his family assessing what the real risk is based on the possibilities of action and understanding on the part of the parents.
Meanwhile, according to what has been said, UNICEF will continue to say this, that better in a crib next to the parents, but that if the parents end up deciding to put the child in the bed they should minimize risks by moving away the pillows of the babies, making sure that the baby cannot fall from the bed or get caught between the mattress and the wall, make sure that the bedding cannot cover the baby's face, not leave the baby alone in the bed, since it can stay in one position that is not appropriate and keep in mind that in the first months it is better not to share a bed with him if he was born prematurely or if he was born at term but with low weight.
In summary, the study we presented yesterday is still far from having all the data to be taken into account one hundred percent since it used such a perfect control group, with such a low risk, that any variable crossed with that group was at the same time. height of the house of horrors. A pity, because those who seek studies to learn we will end up distrusting them so much that in the end we will not believe anything.
