Sudden unexpected infant death. I Paediatric counselling.

One baby in every 500 live births dies suddenly and unexpectedly. Sudden deaths, the most common kind of death among babies aged between one week and two years, rank third of all infant mortality after perinatal conditions and congenital anomalies,l and are among the most distressing and baffling tragedies faced by families, health professionals, and officials. In 1980, of the 3800 postperinatal deaths in England and Wales, 2200 (58 %) were referred to a coroner for certification. Of these unexpected deaths, 1200 were registered as sudden infant death syndrome, or as due to a condition associated with cot death, signifying that these deaths were medically unexplained or only in part explained at the initial necropsy.