The Branch supports studies to elucidate underlying mechanisms of SIDS and its probable cause(s). Additional research strives to identify infants at risk for SIDS and develop preventive approaches.
You can learn more about the research agenda of the SIDS program at NICHD by reading Targeting Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): A Strategic Plan, which is one of several NICHD strategic planning documents.
Since 1994, the NICHD, the Maternal and Child Heath Bureau, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the SIDS Alliance and the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs have sponsored the Back to Sleep campaign. This campaign recommends that infants be placed on their backs to sleep to reduce the risk of SIDS.