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Co-sleeping, breast feeding and the FSID
Jan. 22nd, 2004 02:04 amI don't know if any of my UK based friends have kids, but I thought I'd make you aware anyway…
A couple of days ago it was splashed all over the papers and TV that the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) have changed their advice on co-sleeping, as it increased the risk of cot-death with babies under 8 weeks.
BBC News Report
Most people I know on NCT lists and the like were extremely sceptical.
And then today, this came out -
UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative.
When other factors are controlled for, bed-sharing between non-smoking mothers and their babies becomes non-significant (Odds Ratio = 1.56 [95% CI:0.91 to 2.68]) - this can be seen in Table 2 of the Lancet paper). It is not clear why the unadjusted result has been highlighted in the media. Well, the media has never been known to sensationalize as story, with no regard for the damage they do, have they? (MMR anybody?)
The UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative has asked the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths to reverse its policy change pending a full discussion of the issues at the National Patient Safety Agency on 9 February
It is also interesting to note that the study did not record infant feeding method at the time of death. We do not therefore know whether the babies who died while bed sharing with non-smoking parents were breast- or bottle-fed, or whether breast feeding may have been protective.
Something to note here - breast feeding is widely known to reduce the risk of cot death, (Something the FSID don't make as big a song and dance about as you might imagine they would). Co-sleeping, especially in the first few weeks, is known to increase the chances of a mother continuing to breastfeed.
Oh look, FSID's main corporate sponsor is Cow & Gate. Oh, and they make baby formula. Of course they have no influence over FSID's attitude towards breastfeeding, and would never dream of trying to influence them in the future.
A couple of days ago it was splashed all over the papers and TV that the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) have changed their advice on co-sleeping, as it increased the risk of cot-death with babies under 8 weeks.
BBC News Report
Most people I know on NCT lists and the like were extremely sceptical.
And then today, this came out -
UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative.
When other factors are controlled for, bed-sharing between non-smoking mothers and their babies becomes non-significant (Odds Ratio = 1.56 [95% CI:0.91 to 2.68]) - this can be seen in Table 2 of the Lancet paper). It is not clear why the unadjusted result has been highlighted in the media. Well, the media has never been known to sensationalize as story, with no regard for the damage they do, have they? (MMR anybody?)
The UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative has asked the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths to reverse its policy change pending a full discussion of the issues at the National Patient Safety Agency on 9 February
It is also interesting to note that the study did not record infant feeding method at the time of death. We do not therefore know whether the babies who died while bed sharing with non-smoking parents were breast- or bottle-fed, or whether breast feeding may have been protective.
Something to note here - breast feeding is widely known to reduce the risk of cot death, (Something the FSID don't make as big a song and dance about as you might imagine they would). Co-sleeping, especially in the first few weeks, is known to increase the chances of a mother continuing to breastfeed.
Oh look, FSID's main corporate sponsor is Cow & Gate. Oh, and they make baby formula. Of course they have no influence over FSID's attitude towards breastfeeding, and would never dream of trying to influence them in the future.
