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I always thought that SIDS stands for "parents likely accidentally killed their child through negligence or error, and a prison sentence seems too harsh". So we

I always thought that SIDS stands for "parents likely accidentally killed their child through negligence or error, and a prison sentence seems too harsh". So we make it a medical condition instead of a crime.

smiddereens 4y ago
Would a convincing medical explanation change your opinion?
- bigdict 4y ago
  Yes.
mcphage 4y ago
That's both cruel and incorrect.
- bigdict 4y ago
  It's the opposite of cruel, it's merciful to most likely first time parents who make an inadvertent (fatal) mistake. And why would that be incorrect?
  - SemanticStrengh 4y ago
    it's cruel because it's only partially true, and show no justice for the innocent parent victims. It is merciful for the subset though.
dylan604 4y ago
Or an angry god releasing vengence on the first born. We can make things up all day long. Doesn't really help things along though.
itqwertz 4y ago
I do wonder how many of those SIDS cases are really just a woman suffering from postpartum depression smothering her newborn because she is no longer receiving the full amount of attention she received when pregnant.
- douglee650 4y ago
  What a horrible statement to make. Women are no longer the star > they get depressed > kill their babies … ?
  - baumandm 4y ago
    Postpartum depression is a real thing and very common. I believe it's more of a hormonal response and less about a lack of attention, though
    - ghostpepper 4y ago
      I don't think it's common for women with PPD to kill their child. If anything they kill themselves. I agree it's nothing to do with attention, and I think it's facile and callous to imply otherwise without any factual/scientific basis.
  - twoxproblematic 4y ago
roguecoder 4y ago
Nope! Some infants respond to a drop in oxygen by stopping breathing all together, instead of breathing faster or trying to get more oxygen. It is thought this is leftover from time in the womb: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2015.00220/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2015.0022... Anything that reduces how much oxygen the infant gets can potentially trigger this. So while it might be "there was a pillow the baby managed to roll into", it could also be a mild allergic reaction, acid reflux, a respiratory virus or insufficient air circulation. None of those things would be enough to be a "cause of death", because they were just the trigger for the infant's brain deciding to stop breathing.

smiddereens 4y ago

Would a convincing medical explanation change your opinion?

bigdict 4y ago
Yes.

mcphage 4y ago

That's both cruel and incorrect.

bigdict 4y ago
It's the opposite of cruel, it's merciful to most likely first time parents who make an inadvertent (fatal) mistake. And why would that be incorrect?
- SemanticStrengh 4y ago
  it's cruel because it's only partially true, and show no justice for the innocent parent victims. It is merciful for the subset though.

dylan604 4y ago

Or an angry god releasing vengence on the first born. We can make things up all day long. Doesn't really help things along though.

itqwertz 4y ago

I do wonder how many of those SIDS cases are really just a woman suffering from postpartum depression smothering her newborn because she is no longer receiving the full amount of attention she received when pregnant.

douglee650 4y ago
What a horrible statement to make. Women are no longer the star > they get depressed > kill their babies … ?
- baumandm 4y ago
  Postpartum depression is a real thing and very common. I believe it's more of a hormonal response and less about a lack of attention, though
  - ghostpepper 4y ago
    I don't think it's common for women with PPD to kill their child. If anything they kill themselves. I agree it's nothing to do with attention, and I think it's facile and callous to imply otherwise without any factual/scientific basis.
- twoxproblematic 4y ago

roguecoder 4y ago

Nope! Some infants respond to a drop in oxygen by stopping breathing all together, instead of breathing faster or trying to get more oxygen. It is thought this is leftover from time in the womb: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2015.00220/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2015.0022... Anything that reduces how much oxygen the infant gets can potentially trigger this. So while it might be "there was a pillow the baby managed to roll into", it could also be a mild allergic reaction, acid reflux, a respiratory virus or insufficient air circulation. None of those things would be enough to be a "cause of death", because they were just the trigger for the infant's brain deciding to stop breathing.