25 June, 2025
  • News

Investigating vaping and sudden and unexpected infant death

We're funding research by Dr Joanna Garstang, who is aiming to discover whether vaping could increase the risk of sudden and unexpected infant death.

A professional headshot of Dr Joanna Garstang. She has short, dark hair, wears a white blouse, a silver necklace and is smiling.

The Lullaby Trust and Teddy’s Wish have joined forces to jointly fund research that has the potential to save lives. Dr Joanna Garstang is looking to determine whether vaping, particularly in pregnancy, leads to an increased risk of sudden unexplained death in infancy (SUDI). SUDI is the death of a baby that is unexpected, and it includes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). 

A man is facing side on, vaping in what looks to be a cafe. He is wearing a beanie hat.

What does the research project entail?

Jo explained, “The first stage of this research project is looking at two groups of babies. The first group is babies who have died suddenly and unexpectedly. This group have already had detailed investigations to try and find out why they died; their parents will have been asked lots of questions including their smoking and vaping habits. The second group is parents with babies living in Birmingham. We’ll be asking those parents to complete anonymous questionnaires for us.

“The second stage will be doing a detailed statistical analysis, looking for associations and risks between the two groups.”

What we already know

Research has demonstrated that smoking during pregnancy or after birth increases the risk of SUDI and SIDS. Smoking in pregnancy is associated with premature labour, and low birth weight babies, which are also high risk factors for sudden infant death.

Jo continued, “The active ingredient in both smoking and vaping is nicotine. We know that nicotine is harmful to the developing brain. The brain also controls functions like breathing in babies, and we know that sudden infant death is associated with problems in breathing control.”

A professional headshot of Dr Joanna Garstang. She has short, dark hair, wears a white blouse, a silver necklace and is smiling.

“All of the research that has been done on sudden infant deaths and smoking was done around 20 years ago. There have been very few updates since then and of course, 20 years ago, no one was vaping. This means researchers don’t know whether vaping is a risk or not.

“In the meantime, smoking rates have been going down thankfully, but vaping rates have been rising. If vaping is a risk, we need to find out to be able to advise families and help them make a choice that is right for them.”

The life-saving impact

At The Lullaby Trust, all of our expert information and guidance on baby safety is backed by decades of research. This research has saved over 30,000 babies’ lives. But we won’t stop until no baby dies suddenly or unexpectedly.

Jo said, “The best outcome for this project would be able to update our guidance to give families and parents really clear information. If this is about the risks of vaping, then parents can decide whether to stop vaping during and after pregnancy. This research and the advice it might inform, could save lives.”

  • A baby is looking to their side with a huge, wide open grin. They have light to medium skin and the mum is looking down at them and smiling, with her face closely pressed to the baby.

    For every baby. For every family. Forever.

    Every day, we keep babies safe and keep grieving families supported. But our ultimate goal is to live in a world where no baby dies suddenly or unexpectedly. Grieving families should have answers about their baby’s death. More research is needed to explore the causes of sudden infant death, so we know how to prevent it for the babies and families of tomorrow.

    Donate today to find answers that save babies’ lives, and give grieving families answers they so desperately need.

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