Facts about SIDS
Educational Resources
Grief Support for Infant Loss

Facts about SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)

• In Oregon, about 40 babies die in their sleep every year.
• The most important thing you can do for your baby’s health is to quit smoking. For help, call the Oregon Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-784-8669 or online at www.quitnow.net/oregon.
• Breastfeeding reduces your baby’s risk of SIDS.

To make sure your baby is as safe as possible:

• Always put your baby to sleep on his/her back.
• Make sure no one smokes around your baby.
• Breastfeed your baby.
• Put your baby to sleep in the room where you sleep.
• Remove soft fluffy bedding, pillows, stuffed toys and bumper pads from your baby’s sleep area.
• Avoid placing your baby to sleep on soft things like couches or upholstered chairs, waterbeds, beanbag chairs, quilts or comforters.
• Talk with grandparents and other caregivers about this safe sleep information.

Some parents choose to sleep with their baby. It can be unsafe to sleep with your baby if:

• Your baby is less than 12 weeks old.
• Your bed has pillows, quilts, or comforters.
• You share the bed with pets or other children.
• You or your partner:
• Smokes
• Has taken drugs, alcohol, or medications that make you sleepy
• Are very tired or suffer from extreme exhaustion.

Please talk to you healthcare provider about any concerns you may have.

Educational Resources

Safe Sleep Brochure | Spanish version

CD Summary issue dedicated to SIDS

Crib Safety Information from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Back to Sleep
The Back to Sleep campaign has been successful in promoting infant back sleeping to parents, family members, child care providers, health professionals, and all other caregivers of infants. This campaign is sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the SIDS Alliance, and the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs. Policy statements and educational materials are available on this website.

National SIDS/Infant Death Resource Center
The National SIDS/Infant Death Resource Center provides information services and technical assistance on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and related topics. Our goal is to promote understanding of SIDS and provide comfort to those affected by SIDS through information sharing.

Resources for Grief Support

The Dougy Center for Grieving Children and Families
The mission of The Dougy Center for Grieving Children is to provide loving support in a safe place where children, teens and their families grieving a death can share their experiences as they move through their healing process.

Brief Encounters
Brief Encounters is a nonprofit, nonsectarian group for parents whose babies have died before, during, or after birth. Brief Encounters provides meetings in the greater Portland, Oregon area and local phone support. At informal, mutually supportive meetings, bereaved parents and their families share their stories, discuss issues that arise around pregnancy and infant loss, and remember their children. Through talking or just listening, we learn what grief is and how, through understanding and caring, we heal.

BabyLoss Support Group (Eugene)
For those who have experienced pregnancy loss or the loss of an infant or toddler.
Download information (pdf)

First Candle
First Candle is a national health organization that provides grief support services to help families through the difficult time after the loss of a baby. Grief counselors are available by phone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call toll free at 1-800-221-7437. Bilingual crisis counselors are also available at the same toll free number.

Compassionate Friends
The Compassionate Friends is a national bereavement support organization for families who have suffered the death of a child. For information, call the National Office at 1-877-969-0010 or contact one of the local support groups in Oregon.