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Sudden Unexpected Infant Death

A Review for the Middle East Region

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Handbook of Healthcare in the Arab World

Abstract

Risk factors for Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) are alarmingly high in the Middle East compared to Western countries. However, unlike Western nations, SUID prevention is not a national health policy priority in Middle Eastern countries. This chapter aims to define SUID history globally and to present the prevalence of SUID in the Middle East region. This chapter also explores the leading risk factors of SUID and highlights commonly associated challenges for the reduction of this problem in the Middle East, as well as indicate some strategies and suggestions for the improvement of public awareness regarding this problem. There is a high incidence of low birth weight and prematurity among infants born in this region. Currently, families commonly use infant care practices that increase the risk of SUID, including placing infants in the side sleeping position, clothing the infant heavily, and the use of excessive bedding and soft objects in the infant’s bed. Further risks are associated with characteristics of Middle Eastern homes related to smoking, poor household heating, and poor ventilation. As there are no comprehensive SUID prevention guidelines currently available for the Middle East, a campaign suitable for Middle Eastern countries needs to be developed. The adaptation of Western SUID prevention strategies in the Middle East will yield benefits for infants’ health and enhance their survival rates. Furthermore, routine data needs to be routinely collected on the incidence and factors contributing to SUID, as well as causes of death in children aged less than five.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Maternal Child Health, Faculty of Nursing, Al al-Bayt University, Al-Mafraq, Jordan

    Shereen Hamadneh

  2. Nursing and Midwifery Research Centre, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia

    Shereen Hamadneh & Anne Wilkinson

  3. Happy Baby Association, Ministry of Social Development, Amman, Jordan

    Shereen Hamadneh & Manal Kassab

  4. Department of Maternal & Child Health, Faculty of Nursing, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan

    Manal Kassab

  5. Department of Integrated Physiology and Health Sciences, Alma College, Alma, MI, USA

    Arieanna Eaton

  6. School of Nursing & Midwifery, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Debra K. Creedy

Authors
  1. Shereen Hamadneh
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  2. Manal Kassab
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  3. Arieanna Eaton
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  4. Anne Wilkinson
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  5. Debra K. Creedy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shereen Hamadneh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Pharmacology Therapeutics, University of British Colombia Dept. Pharmacology Therapeutics, VANCOUVER, BC, Canada

    Ismail Laher

Section Editor information

  1. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia

    Diana Arabiat

  2. Faculty of Nursing, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

    Diana Arabiat

  3. Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Aden, Aden, Yemen

    Huda Omer Basaleem

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Hamadneh, S., Kassab, M., Eaton, A., Wilkinson, A., Creedy, D.K. (2020). Sudden Unexpected Infant Death. In: Laher, I. (eds) Handbook of Healthcare in the Arab World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74365-3_144-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74365-3_144-1

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