Tobacco and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Tobacco smoke is a major cause of sudden and unexplained death of infants before one year of age, otherwise known as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).Footnote 1Footnote 2
- Key facts about tobacco use and sudden infant death syndrome
- What is sudden infant death syndrome?
- How does tobacco use increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome?
- How does quitting lower my baby's risk of sudden infant death syndrome?
- Health benefits of quitting tobacco use at any age
- Call for free help to quit
Key facts about tobacco use and sudden infant death syndrome
- Infants whose parents smoked during pregnancy and those exposed to second-hand smoke after birth have an increased risk of SIDS.Footnote 1Footnote 2Footnote 3Footnote 4
- The risk of SIDS increases with the number of cigarettes smoked during pregnancy, the number of people smoking in the household, and the proximity of smoking to the infant.Footnote 1Footnote 3Footnote 4Footnote 5
- The heightened risk of SIDS related to infant bed sharing is further increased if one or both parents smoke.Footnote 6Footnote 7
- Between 2007 and 2011, SIDS accounted for 306, or 19.6%, of all post-neonatal deaths (28 days to 1 year of age).Footnote 8 In 2012, 14% -16% of SIDS deaths in Canada were caused by smoking.Footnote 9
View health labels for cigarettes and little cigars.
What is sudden infant death syndrome?
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden and unexplained death, during sleep, of an infant younger than one year of age.Footnote 2 Footnote 10 The exact cause of SIDS remains unknown.
Since 2012, the reported causes of SIDS deaths are classified as "undetermined". This makes it difficult to know how widespread SIDS truly is.
How does tobacco use increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome?
Second-hand smoke contains several toxic chemicals that can damage the cells of the body.Footnote 1 Maternal smoking during pregnancy and exposure to second-hand smoke after birth can affect infant brain and lung development. This in turn affects how an infant breathes and may be responsible for SIDS.Footnote 1Footnote 2Footnote 5
How does quitting reduce my baby's risk of sudden infant death syndrome?
People who reduce the number of cigarettes smoked during pregnancy can lower the risk of SIDS for their infants. People who stop smoking can lower the risk even further.Footnote 13Footnote 14Footnote 15
Preventing exposure to tobacco smoke, before and after birth, and living in a smoke-free environment reduce the risk of SIDS, as well as other smoking-related diseases, such as lower respiratory illnesses (e.g. bronchitis and pneumonia).Footnote 1Footnote 3 An estimated 14 -16% of all SIDS deaths could be prevented by eliminating second-hand smoke exposure.Footnote 9
Health benefits of quitting tobacco use at any age
Quitting tobacco use reduces the risk of premature death, improves health, and enhances quality of life.Footnote 17 Quitting at any age is beneficial to one's health.Footnote 17 Even people who have smoked or used tobacco heavily for many years benefit from it.Footnote 3Footnote 17 Quitting is the most important thing someone who smokes can do to improve their health.
Read more about the benefits of quitting smoking.
For help to quit
Free quit counselling, coaching and other services in your province or territory
Footnotes
- Footnote 1
-
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2006.
- Footnote 2
-
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: 50 Years of Progress. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2014.
- Footnote 3
-
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2004.
- Footnote 4
-
DiFranza JR, Aligne CA and Weitzman, M. Prenatal and postnatal environmental tobacco smoke exposure and children's health. Pediatrics. 2004;113(4):1007-15. PMID: 15060193.
- Footnote 5
-
Anderson TM, Lavista Ferres JM, Ren SY, Moon RY, Goldstein RD, Ramirez JM, Mitchell EA. Maternal smoking before and during pregnancy and the risk of sudden unexpected infant death. Pediatrics. 2019 Apr 1;143(4).
- Footnote 6
-
Scragg R, Mitchell EA, Taylor BJ, Stewart AW, Ford RPK, Thompson JM, Allen EM, Becroft DM. Bed sharing, smoking, and alcohol in the sudden infant death syndrome. New Zealand Cot Death Study group. BMJ. 1993;307(6915): 1312-8. doi: 10.1136/bmj.307.6915.1312.
- Footnote 7
-
Mitchell EA, Thompson JM, Zuccollo J, MacFarlane M, Taylor B, Elder D, Stewart AW, Percival T, Baker N, McDonald G, Lawton B. The combination of bedsharing and maternal smoking leads to a greatly increased risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy: the New Zealand Nationwide SUDI case control study. New Zealand Medical Journal. 2017 Jun 2;130(1456):52-64.
- Footnote 8
-
Public Health Agency of Canada. Perinatal health indicators for Canada 2017. A report from the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System. Public Health Agency of Canada; Ottawa, ON. 2017. Available from: https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2018/aspc-phac/HP7-1-2017-eng.pdf
- Footnote 9
-
Dobrescu A, Bhandari A, Sutherland G, Dinh T. The Conference Board of Canada - The costs of tobacco use in Canada, 2012. 2017. Available from: https://www.conferenceboard.ca/temp/4850d562-66f1-4258-aed2-76c723d191e2/9185_Costs-Tobacco-Use_RPT.pdf
- Footnote 10
-
Willinger M, James LS, Catz C. Defining the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): deliberations of an expert panel convened by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Pediatr Pathol. 1991;11:677–684. https://doi.org/10.3109/15513819109065465
- Footnote 11
-
Gilbert N, Nelson C, Greaves L. Smoking cessation during pregnancy and relapse after childbirth in Canada. Obstetrics. 2015;37(1):32-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1701-2163(15)30360-1
- Footnote 12
-
Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) 2012: Supplementary tables. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/healthy-living/canadian-tobacco-use-monitoring-survey-2012-supplementary-tables.html#t7
- Footnote 13
-
Mitchell EA, Taylor BJ, Ford RPK, Stewart AW, Becroft DMO, Thompson JMD et al. Four modifiable and other major risk factors for cot death: The New Zealand Study. J Paediatr Child Health. 1992;28 Supplement 1:S3-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1992.tb02729.x.
- Footnote 14
-
Blair PS, Fleming PJ, Bensley D, Smith I, Bacon C, Taylor E et al. Smoking and the sudden infant death syndrome: Results from 1993-1995 case-control study for confidential inquiry into stillbirths and deaths in infancy. BMJ. 1996;313(7051):195-198. doi: 10.1136/bmj.313.7051.195.
- Footnote 15
-
Vennemann M, Findeisen M, Butterfab-Bahloul T, Jorch G, Brinkman B, Kopcke W et al. Modifiable risk factors for SIDS in Germany: Results of GeSID. Acta Paediatr. 2005;94(6):655-660. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2005.tb01960.x
- Footnote 16
-
Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canadian Paediatric Society, the Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, and the Canadian Institute of Child Heath.
Joint Statement on Safe Sleep: Preventing Sudden Infant Deaths in Canada. Paediatr Child Health. 2011;16(8):461. doi: 10.1093/pch/16.8.461.
- Footnote 17
-
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2020.
Page details
- Date modified: