The unexpected death of an infant or child is a huge tragedy for any family, leaving them bewildered and grieving, and cutting across all their joys and hopes for their child. While much progress has been made in our understanding of the causes of such unexpected deaths and how to prevent them, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) remains the biggest cause of infant death after the first week of life, with over 200 babies per year dying this way in England and Wales. Whenever a child dies unexpectedly, there is a requirement for the coroner to investigate the death. These investigations can, however, further add to the parents’ distress. It is therefore crucially important that each unexpected child death is thoroughly investigated in a sensitive and supportive manner.
Every week at least four families in England and Wales experience the sudden, unexpected death of their child
Sudden unexpected death in infancy and childhood – Multi-agency guidelines for care and investigation
These new national guidelines have been published by a multi-agency working group convened by The Royal College of Pathologists and The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. They provide guidelines for professionals responding to an unexpected child death which are both sensitive to the needs of grief-stricken parents and seek to help parents understand why their child has died.
The revised guidelines build on previous work published in 2004 and seek to outline best practice for the different professionals involved in responding to an unexpected death and to ensure that the response to such deaths is both sensitive and thorough.
I have been enormously privileged to have been part of the group writing these new guidelines, and also to have been involved in some of the research on which they are based. We have seen huge improvements in the ways police and health professionals respond to such deaths, but there is always more that we can learn. So I hope that the revised guidelines will be a stimulus for improving services across the country.
In my work with bereaved families, I have come across terrible situations where parents have been kept in the dark or made to feel like criminals, but also some great examples of how families have been supported through the days and weeks following their child’s death and how police and health professionals have worked together in a sensitive, thorough, and caring manner. Parents often tell me that what they want, above anything else, is to understand why their baby died, but also their hopes that by investigating their child’s death thoroughly, we can work to prevent other families having to go through a similar experience.
The guidelines are freely available for download from the Royal College of Pathologists. Click here to download the guidelines.
The Lullaby Trust
While so many families continue to face this awful tragedy, we must do everything we can to support those families and to prevent future child deaths. Particularly at this time of year, many parents will be feeling the grief so much more intensely. It has been really encouraging to be involved with the Lullaby Trust who continue to work to support families and professionals as well as supporting research and public health initiatives to further reduce the incidence of SIDS. This week, they are once again holding a fundraising challenge through The Big Give: From 12 midday on Tuesday 29 November to 12 midday on Friday 2 December donations made to us via The Big Give website will be matched pound-for-pound; this means a donation to us could go twice as far absolutely free of charge to you!