Abstract
Little is known about what bereaved parents feel about the autopsy performed on their child. A multi-centre case control study of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) victims was carried out in Germany between 1998 and 2001, in which all infants had been autopsied. We performed a follow-up study 4–7 years after the parents had lost their child. A total of 141 parents filled in the questionnaire, which were sent to them by the study centre. Of these, 71% had had another child after the SIDS/sudden unexpected death in infancy. The majority (83%) of the participating parents found the autopsy helped them to cope better with the death. A large proportion (46%) did not want any professional help after the death, and 55% did not wish to have any contact with a self-help group. We conclude that the autopsy is helpful to the majority of bereaved parents. Professional help and self-help groups should be offered to the parents even if the majority in our study did not want to use either.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Vance JC, Boyle FM, Najman JM, Thearle MJ (2002) Couple distress after sudden infant or perinatal death: a 30-month follow up. J Paediatr Child Health 38(4):368–372
Fleming PJ, Blair PS, Sidebotham PD, Hayler T (2004) Investigating sudden unexpected deaths in infancy and childhood and caring for bereaved families: an integrated multiagency approach. BMJ 328(7435):331–334
Dyregrov K (2004) Bereaved parents’ experience of research participation. Soc Sci Med 58(2):391–400
Findeisen M, Vennemann M, Brinkmann B, Ortmann C, Rose I, Kopcke W, Jorch G, Bajanowski T (2004) German study on sudden infant death (GeSID): design, epidemiological and pathological profile. Int J Legal Med 118(3):163–169
Vennemann MM, Findeisen M, Butterfass-Bahloul T, Jorch G, Brinkmann B, Kopcke W, Bajanowski T, Mitchell EA (2005) Modifiable risk factors for SIDS in Germany: results of GeSID. Acta Paediatr 94(6):655–660
Stang A, Ahrens W, Jockel KH (1999) Control response proportions in population-based case-control studies in Germany. Epidemiology 10(2):181–183
Helmerichs J, Saternus KS (1995) SIDS-Folgeschwangerschaft. Lübeck: Schmidt-Römhild. (Rechtsmedizinische Forschungsergebnisse, vol 11)
Helmerichs J, Saternus KS (2000) Psychosocial management of a new pregnancy after Sudden Infant Death (SID)—results of a long-term study of 115 families. Z Geburtshilfe Neonatol 204(3):99–105
Paditz E, Mosshammer A (2006) Prävention des plötzlichen Säuglingstodes in Sachsen. Hilfen für betroffene Familien. Internationaler Kenntnisstand (kritische Metaanalyse und Handlungsempfehlungen) Hille, CH
Acknowledgements
We thank all the parents for their assistance, for without them, there would have been no study. We would like to thank Professors Brinkmann, Jorch and Köpcke for their cooperation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vennemann, M.M.T., Rentsch, C., Bajanowski, T. et al. Are autopsies of help to the parents of SIDS victims?. Int J Legal Med 120, 352–354 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-006-0100-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-006-0100-3