INFANT POSITIONING AND SIDS - ACCEPTANCE OF THE NONPRONE POSITION AMONG CLINIC MOTHERS

In April 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that hea lthy infants not be placed prone to sleep because of the association b etween the prone sleeping position and sudden infant death syndrome (S IDS). We determined the awareness and acceptance of this recommendatio n among 190 mothers attending a community health center pediatric clin ic in the first year after the recommendation. Ninety-seven women (51. 1%) had heard the recommendation. The compliance with the recommendati on among women who had heard it was 63.9% (62 of 97). Fifty-three perc ent of all the mothers worried that their infant would choke in the su pine position. More education is necessary in this population to impro ve acceptance of this new recommendation and to correct misinformation about the supine position.