BMJ No 7108 Volume 315
News Saturday 6 September 1997
First rise in cot deaths for five years
| The downward trend in the number of deaths from the sudden infant death syndrome in England and Wales was reversed in 1996, with a rise to 441 deaths, or 0.7 per 1000 live births, a slight increase on the 1995 figure of 0.6, which was the lowest ever recorded. Estimated figures of 43 cot deaths in Scotland and 15 in Northern Ireland raise the United Kingdom's total to 499, or almost 10 a week.
The rate of sudden infant deaths has remained fairly steady after falling 50% between 1991 and 1993 from 1.4 to 0.7 per 1000 live births, official statistics show. The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths said that it hoped the increase in 1996 would turn out to be a "blip" but warned that it might be a sign of complacency after the successes of previous years. |  | |
| Campaigners warn against complacency over cot death |
An analysis by the Office for National Statistics shows that in 1996, as in previous years, the rate of sudden infant deaths was highest for mothers aged under 20 and for babies born outside marriage (1.5 per 1000 live births). The lowest rate was for babies born inside marriage (0.4 per 1000).
Among the babies who died of the syndrome, the rate in 1996 was greatest for very low birthweight babies (under 1500 g). This was nearly eight times the rate for babies weighing 3500 g or more at birth. Sudden infant deaths were more common among boys than girls - between 1992 and 1996, 61% of deaths occurred among boys, though boys comprised 51% of all live births. In the past five years, 52% of deaths were among babies aged under 3 months and 85% among babies under 6 months.
John Warden,
parliamentary correspondent
BMJ
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