October begins tomorrow. It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness month. Most people know about those causes and help support them. It is also Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month, and SIDs Awareness month. Both things that hit so very close to home for us. Sadly, more babies are added to this video each year. It's painful to watch, but more painful for the families living without their precious little ones. A little info on what took our sweet Arianna.

Please take a moment to pray for these families.
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 'Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a medical term that describes the sudden death of an infant which remains unexplained after all known and possible causes have been carefully ruled out through autopsy, death scene investigation, and review of the medical history. SIDS is responsible for more deaths than any other cause in childhood for babies one month to one year of age, claiming 150,000 victims in the United States in this generation alone - 7,000 babies each year -nearly one baby every hour of every day. It strikes families of all races, ethnic and socioeconomic origins without warning; neither parent nor physician can predict that something is going wrong. In fact, most SIDS victims appear healthy prior to death.'

While there are still no adequate medical explanations for SIDS deaths, current theories include: (1) stress in a normal baby, caused by infection or other factors; (2) a birth defect; (3) failure to develop; and/or (4) a critical period when all babies are especially vulnerable, such as a time of rapid growth.
Many new studies have been launched to learn how and why SIDS occurs. Scientists are exploring the development and function of the nervous system, the brain, the heart, breathing and sleep patterns, body chemical balances, autopsy findings, and environmental factors. It is likely that SIDS, like many other medical disorders, will eventually have more than one explanation.

Can SIDS Be Prevented?

No, not yet. But, some recent studies have begun to isolate several risk factors which, though not causes of SIDS in and of themselves, may play a role in some cases. We share this information with you in the interest of providing parents with the latest medical evidence from research in the U.S. and other countries in the hope of giving your baby the best possible chance to thrive. (It is important that, since the causes of SIDS remain unknown, SIDS parents refrain from concluding that their child care practices may have caused their baby's death.)


What SIDS is Not:

SIDS is not caused by external suffocation.
SIDS is not caused by vomiting and choking.
SIDS is not contagious.
SIDS does not cause pain or suffering in the infant.
SIDS cannot be predicted.