• April 01, 1974
• Vol. 1
• No. 5

A Mother's War on Crib Death

Somewhere, probably at the hospital where she worked, Dr. Marie Valdes-Dapena had contracted tuberculosis and passed it along unsuspectingly to her infant daughter. Night after night Dr. Dapena and her physician husband Antonio stood beside the tiny bed and prayed that the next painful breath they heard would not be the last. The child survived and, in all, 11 children were born to the Dapenas, bringing the normal traumas of parenthood. It was the kind of practical training that has been invaluable to Dr. Dapena in her battle against Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), or crib death, a baffling condition in which the victim suddenly stops breathing. It kills 9,000 babies a year, and is the second leading killer of infants.

As a young doctor at Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia, where she is a pathologist and instructor, Marie Dapena was asked to compile research on crib death. That was 15 years ago. Now her research monopolizes most of her spare time. "It's something that runs along beside me and I push like a hoop."

Her lighthearted reply masks the wrench of dealing not only with the little victims of crib death but, often worse, with their grief-stricken parents. She has seen marriages break up under accusations of fault, and parents cruelly harassed by neighbors who are suspicious of the sudden death of a baby without apparent cause.

Until recently the National Foundation for Sudden Infant Death, of which Dr. Dapena is a vice-president, has focused its efforts on helping parents. Now researchers are concentrating on the causes of the disease and have discovered a type of child who is particularly susceptible.

Typically the child is from an economically and socially underprivileged family. The lowest rate is among whites, the highest among American Indians. Multiple births increase the likelihood of the disease, as does poor nutrition. SIDS appears to be more common in the children of smokers than in those of nonsmokers. Illegitimate babies are also more susceptible.

"Moreover," says Dr. Dapena, "upper-respiratory infections were found in most SIDS victims. Almost all died at night. Recent studies have shown that blood vessels in the lungs of SIDS babies were as thick as those found in babies raised high in the Rockies. SIDS children may chronically want for oxygen."

Many factors causing a tendency toward SIDS may begin while the baby is still in the womb. When it becomes possible to pinpoint children who are most vulnerable, Dr. Dapena says physicians will be able to take precautionary measures which may include a home monitoring system or, in the most severe cases, hospitalization.

"If I had a child with a habit of faulty breathing, I'd have him checked out by a trained physician, preferably in a hospital," Dr. Dapena says. "You can't keep running into the baby's room at night. If I'd done that with all my children, I'd never have had time for anything else."