Hansard

I absolutely agree that peer support is crucial, not just in this area of work but in many aspects of the work that I undertake. From the visits that I make to various organisations, I know that people learn much more from and have much more empathy with someone who has been through the same experience as them.

In the past two years, there have been two SUDI summits, which have been joint events held by the Scottish Cot Death Trust and the Scottish Government. The most recent summit, which I opened, took place in December 2014 and was an excellent day of sharing best practice, with the common goal of assisting bereaved families who experience SUDI.

This year, the Scottish Government set up the child death reviews steering group. The trust has a representative on that important group, to ensure that the perspective of bereaved parents is heard. The steering group will provide a report to ministers in the summer, setting out its recommendations for a child death review process.

As members have mentioned, the cause of SIDS is not known. It is possible that many factors contribute, but some factors are known to make SIDS more likely. Those include placing a baby on their front or side for sleep. We also know that the risk of SIDS is higher in cases where babies are born preterm or with low birth weight, or where the mother smokes over 20 cigarettes a day when pregnant or in families where there is socioeconomic deprivation or complex needs. As Dr Simpson said, where breastfeeding rates go up, there is less likelihood of sudden death. We are making good progress on teenage pregnancies, but more needs to be done on that.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on postnatal care, which were updated in December 2014, agree with all that. We need clear evidence to say that one particular factor directly causes SIDS. NICE reviewed the evidence relating to co-sleeping—that is, when parents or carers sleep on a bed, sofa or chair with an infant—in the first year of an infant’s life. Some of the reviewed evidence showed that there is a statistical relationship between SIDS and co-sleeping. However, NICE was clear that the evidence does not show that co-sleeping causes SIDS. Therefore, the term “association” has been used in the recommendations to describe the relationship between co-sleeping and SIDS. NICE recommends that healthcare professionals should

“Inform parents and carers that the association between co-sleeping and SIDS may be greater”

if there has been alcohol consumption or drug use, or with low birth weight or premature infants.

I should also mention the “Reduce the risk” leaflet, which is given to every mother, antenatally or following delivery.

I again acknowledge the work that is done by the Scottish Cot Death Trust, and I wish the organisation continued success in the future, supporting families who are affected by the sudden unexpected death of a child or baby.