Section 2. Legislative findings.
The General Assembly hereby finds and declares as follows:
(1) The sudden, unexpected death of a newborn is the
third most common cause of death among newborns and is only
exceeded in the first year of life by congenital
malformations and prematurity.
(2) Most sudden infant deaths occur when a baby is
between two and four months old, and 90% of all sudden infant
deaths occur before six months of age.
(3) Most babies that die of sudden infant death syndrome
(SIDS) or sudden unexpected death in infants (SUDI) appear to
be healthy prior to death.
(4) Sixty percent of SIDS victims are male and 40% are
female.
(5) While SIDS occurs in all socioeconomic, racial and
ethnic groups, African-American and Native-American babies
are two to three times more likely to die of SIDS than
Caucasian babies.
(6) In 1994, the American Academy of Pediatrics, in
conjunction with other major health organizations in the
United States, launched the national "Back to Sleep"
campaign, which endorsed and promoted the placement of
infants on their backs both for sleeping and napping.
(7) The incidence of sudden infant death in the United
States decreased by more than 50% since the inception of this
campaign.
(8) In 2005, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a
new recommendation to further reduce the risk of SIDS that
defined and promoted the use of a safe sleeping environment
for infants.
(9) At this time there is no known way to prevent SIDS
or SUDI, but the risk can be minimized. Parents should learn
risk factors associated with SIDS and SUDI and share with
others information on how to create a safe sleeping
environment for an infant to reduce the risk of sudden and
unexpected death.