Abstract
BackgroundDifferences in both Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) rates and infant care practices between white British and South Asians in UK are well known, but research has not yet examined how these two groups understand and implement SIDS-reduction guidance. This study aimed to discover how white British and Pakistani mothers in Bradford recall, understand and interpret SIDS-reduction guidance, and to explore whether and how they implement this guidance in caring for their infants.MethodsIn-depth narrative interviews with 46 mothers (25 white British origin and 21 Pakistani origin) of 8–12 week old infants recruited from the pool of participants enrolled in the ‘Born in Bradford’ (BiB) cohort study.ResultsAll mothers were aware of UK SIDS-reduction guidance from leaflets presented to them during antenatal or postnatal interactions with health care providers. Pakistani mothers tended to dismiss the guidance in toto as being irrelevant to their cultural practices; white British mothers dismissed, adapted and adopted aspects of the guidance to suit their preferred parenting decisions and personal circumstances. Many mothers misunderstood or misinterpreted the guidance given and explained their infant care behaviour according to their social and cultural circumstances.ConclusionsCurrent SIDS reduction information in the UK does not meet the needs of immigrant families, and is easily misinterpreted or misunderstood by mothers from all sections of the community. Tailored information acknowledging cultural differences in infant care practices is vital, as is greater discussion with all mothers about the reasons for SIDS reduction guidance.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12887-016-0560-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Differences in both Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) rates and infant care practices between white British and South Asians in UK are well known, but research has not yet examined how these two groups understand and implement SIDS-reduction guidance
It is known that South Asian infant care protects infants from the most important SIDS-related factors such as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, sofa-sharing, prone sleep and solitary sleep, research has not explored why parents appear to follow some guidelines and not others [7, 8]
Socio-demographic information was obtained from the Born in Bradford’ (BiB) database and confirmed with participants at interview
Summary
Differences in both Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) rates and infant care practices between white British and South Asians in UK are well known, but research has not yet examined how these two groups understand and implement SIDS-reduction guidance. This study aimed to discover how white British and Pakistani mothers in Bradford recall, understand and interpret SIDS-reduction guidance, and to explore whether and how they implement this guidance in caring for their infants. Differences in infant care practices between white British and UK Pakistani mothers have been well documented, as has the much lower prevalence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) of South Asian Infants in UK [7, 8]. It is known that South Asian infant care protects infants from the most important SIDS-related factors such as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, sofa-sharing, prone sleep and solitary sleep, research has not explored why parents appear to follow some guidelines and not others [7, 8].
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