Introduction: Sudden infant death syndrome is defined as unexpected death of an infant
up to one year of age. We cannot determine a specific cause of this kind of death. In the
past, the incidence of the syndrome was higher, but it was reduced by implementing some
simple measures. The most efficient measure for preventing sudden infant death syndrome
is putting a child on their back to sleep. However, the actual cause of the syndrome is not
known to this day. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to present in detail the sudden
infant death syndrome, the risk factors and preventive measures, to present grieving at a
loss of a child, first aid and forensic investigation. Its purpose is also to point out the issue
of lack of knowledge from the field of sudden infant death syndrome among the healthcare
workers and nonprofessional population. Methods: Descriptive method was used for this
thesis: researching current literature in Slovene and English. Collecting the literature took
place from November 2016 to October 2018. The following databases were used for
searching: CINAHL, Medline (Pub Med) and COBIB.SI. Results: The studied researches
showed the following as the primary causes of the death: sharing bed with the mother,
objects close to the infant at the time of sleeping, location during sleeping and the sleeping
position of the infant. The characteristics of the mother are a significant risk factor for the
occurrence of sudden infant death syndrome, smoking for instant can have a significant
influence. Discussion and conclusion: Sudden infant death syndrome is a sudden
unexpected death of a seemingly healthy infant up to one year of age. The cause of death
remains unknown although there is an investigation of the cause of death, a detailed
medical history is available, the medical record is inspected carefully and in spite of an
autopsy. We can prevent the occurrence of sudden infant death syndrome with appropriate
actions and measures. In spite of the infamous »Back to sleep program« sudden infant
death syndrome remains the leading cause of infant mortality in the USA.
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