Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden and unexplained death of an infant where no cause is found after detailed post mortem.
- 212 unexplained infant deaths occurred in England and Wales in 2014, a rate of 0.30 deaths per 1,000 live births. This follows the decreasing trend that has generally been seen over the last decade from 0.5 in 2005.
- 60% of these deaths were recorded as sudden infant deaths with the remaining 40% recorded as unascertained (where no other cause of death is recorded).
- Just over half (55%) of all unexplained infant deaths were boys in 2014 (117 deaths)
- The rate of infant deaths rose for mothers aged 20 to 24 and 25 to 29 in 2014 while the rate fell for all other age groups.
- 230 unexplained infant deaths occurred in the UK in 2014, a rate of 0.3 deaths per 1,000 live births
Credit: Office of National Statistics, National Records of Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency 2016
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