Sudden Infant Death Syndrome – abbreviated as SIDS – refers to the unexplained circumstance of the death of an infant of less than a year old (Kohyama, 2013). The unexplained circumstance happens even after an extensive autopsy of the child’s body. It implies that, even though the healthcare department always ascertains the causes of deaths that happen to children, that caused by SIDS has always not been connected to specific reasons. Only a combination of factors is suggested. Some of these include child environmental stressors, expose to tobacco substances, stomachache, and suffocation. As research continues to intensify, the death of children as a result of SIDS continues to rise. In 2011, about 70% of infant deaths were associated with SIDS. Evidently, this is a huge concern that requires legislative communication approach to enable members of the public to prevent further deaths cases.
Ideally, initiating an effective SIDS public awareness campaign is the best communication approach to present to a policymaker in an effort of reducing infant mortality. Awareness campaigns are famous for drawing the much-needed attention among members of the public. On this note, a public mobilization should intensify the efforts geared to the campaign effectiveness even before the policymaker is brought into attention. Then, at a personal level, having seen the magnitude of the campaign objectives, the policymaker(s) will no doubt see the need to effectively carry on their obligation to ensure that the figures of infants deaths as a result of SIDS decrease.
The rationale of an effective SIDS community awareness approach is that it will certainly equip parents with the needed skills to prevent infant deaths. This is because; with the legislator’s effort, the campaign effectiveness shall articulate all the possible factors and make it a mandatory that infant care skills are taught to parents especially during the early stages of their childbearing.
References
Kohyama, J. (2013). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and the Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, 1-13. doi:10.1007/978-4-431-54315-2_1
