ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the responses of the 127 parents to questions about what happened the day the baby died, their initial thoughts about the death, and feelings an autopsy being performed. Although research about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and recognition of the syndrome has increased since the middle of the 1970s, many parents still wrestle with the self-doubt, blame, and guilt that goes with a child dying without any identifiable cause. The chapter provides an account of one mother's experience with SIDS and ends with a discussion of implications of the findings for those in helping professions. The effects of SIDS on surviving family members warrants focused research because blame is often placed on family members since there is no medical explanation for the death. Family members also internalize this blame and feel they should have been able to do something to protect the child.
