Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

 Sudden Infant Death Syndrome commonly referred to as SIDS is every parent and caregivers fear when they have young children. It is scary because we don't quite know what exactly causes it, or why it happens, however we DO know a few things that we can do to help reduce chances of it happening to your baby. SIDS generally happens to babies when they are sleeping and generally only during the first year of life. Statistics show that 90% of SIDS cases happen by 6 months, but can happen up until 12 months old according to the  www.sleepfoundation.org. 

This topic is of importance to me, because as a parent of two young kiddos (now 3 and 18 months) I have spent many nights worried that something would happen to my sleeping babies and had to educate myself on ways to reduce any potential risks as much as possible. According to the mayoclinic.org parents can do the following to reduce SIDS risks:

• Put babies on their back to sleep
• Keep the crib as bare as possible (no blankets, stuffed animals, crib bumpers, etc.)
• Don't overheat the baby
• Have baby sleep in your room but NOT in your bed
• Breastfeed baby if possible
• Offer a pacifier (the sucking motion keeps them breathing properly)
• Immunize your baby as recommended

Since they don't know WHAT exactly causes it, they've put together the above list to help keep the baby as safe and healthy as possible in hopes that that will reduce the risks. I can tell you as a parent, I followed every single recommendation possible to ensure my baby stayed healthy. 

Did you know that, The US is has one of the highest mortality rates for SIDS being .5 in 1000 live births? Where as Japan has one of the lowest mortality rates coming in at .2 in 1000 live births... but why?  In 2010, the CDC reported that Japan had one of the lowest infant mortality rates, according to CBS News, with many factors contributing to this. According to Evolutionary Parenting, Japan has significant lower rates of maternal smoking and alcohol consumption — and research has shown that maternal smoking has a direct relation to SIDS. Factors like these could have a direct influence on the lowered SIDS rate for Asian children.

Birth Story

At 37 weeks on October 13th 2017, I went to me weekly OB appointment to find out that my blood pressure was elevated and my daughter was in fetal distress, they sent me straight to the hospital triage where they quickly admitted me onto the labor and delivery floor. They monitored me and my baby for a while, but soon decided I needed to be induced for the safety of myself and my little one. The next morning they started my induction. It took a full WEEK for the induction to work. It took many different techniques, Pitocin, and specialists coming in to find out how to safely deliver my daughter. The following Friday morning (Oct 20th) my water finally broke. Labor finally had progressed and pushing began. I pushed for 4 hours, and no progress was made. They then realized that she wasn't quite in the right position and her shoulder was stuck on my pelvic bone. So they tried to manually move her. That did not work either. They had me change my position and "wait" to see if gravity would shift her into the correct position for delivery... and thank god it did. I began pushing again. I pushed another 2 hours, but she just couldn't progress through. It was then that they told me we'd try one last option and if that didn't work, we'd do an emergency c-section. Out came the vacuum, and it is as awful as it sounds. They're allowed to legally use the vacuum for 3 pushes, after that they have to try something else, and my something else was a c-section. Pushes 1 and 2 with the vacuum showed progression, but not enough for her to come. That 3rd push I didn't stop pushing until I heard her cry. And finally she was out, and beautiful, and perfect... or so we thought in those moments. The final steps of delivery (including them sowing me back up ugh) thankfully are a blur. Because once my sweet Eliza was out, all of my focus was on her. 

She wasn't in my hospital room long, when they had to come in and take her to the NICU. She was extremely jaundice, and we would soon find out that she had a large hematoma on her head (from the vacuum) that was making the jaundice worse, and would cause days of worry that it would cause long term brain defects.... THANK GOD this was not the case. She spent 4 days in the NICU getting wonderful care, but broke my heart that I couldn't hold her. 48 hours after delivery, I was released from the hospital but was able to stay because she was in the NICU and they had room. Thankfully so, because about 12 hours after being released, my blood pressure skyrocketed, my vision went completely blurry, and I had to be re-admitted (into a different part of the hospital) for pre-eclampsia. I was admitted another 3 days to get that under control. But thankfully by Wednesday of the following week, we were both released and doing well. 

My OB and I joked that I had really kept her on her toes through my delivery because we had so many hiccups to the process. I knew it then, and I know it now that it is because we were in one of the best hospitals in the area, that we both made it, and that we're both okay today. A home birth would've ended very differently. A birth in an underdeveloped country, would've ended different... and for that I am blessed. And i'm sure that it's no surprise that when I was pregnant with my second child 2 years later, my OB and I quickly agreed that a c-section would be the right choice.. and boy was it a smoother delivery! 

Birthing Process in Mexico

I was interested to read and learn that the birthing process in Mexico is almost identical to what we experience here in the US! In my mind, I assumed it would be noticeably different, but from what I found on https://www.angloinfo.com/how-to/mexico/healthcare/pregnancy-birth/the-birth they have the same delivery options (home birth, water birth, public or private hospital). From what I read they have the same options on pain relief, labor techniques, recommended vaccines for baby, testing, etc. They do the birth certificate registration at the hospital, but there was a slight difference here... they only register the baby to the mother, not both parents. I found that to be interesting. I wasn't able to find out why this is, but it is a difference from in the US.