Appendix A

History of SIDS

1981

International Conference on SIDS convened in Brussels, Belgium. Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act transferred responsibility for the SIDS Information and Counseling Services from the Federal MCHB to State control through passage of the Title V MCH Block Grants.

1982

International Research Conference on SIDS convened in Baltimore, Maryland.

1986

NICHD Consensus Conference on Infantile Apnea and Home Monitoring.

1987

International Research Conference on SIDS held in Lake Como, Italy. Association of SIDS Program Professionals (ASPP, now ASIP), representing SIDS information and counseling programs in the United States and Canada, is established.

Formation of the SIDS Council by the NFSID, National Center for the Prevention of SIDS, Guild for Infant Survival, SIDS Resources and Southwest SIDS Research Institute. Name changed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Alliance.

1989

NICHD began implementation of the first five-year SIDS research plan, as mandated by Congress.

An expert panel convened by NICHD revised the definition of SIDS to be the sudden death of an infant less than one year of age that remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene and review of the clinical history.

A report on the conference and the development of the definition is published in Pediatric Pathology.

First SIDS International Conference, held in United Kingdom.

1990

First SIDS national conference held in Santa Monica, California.

1991

SIDS definition revised to read “the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including the performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene and review of the clinical history.”

Publication of the SIDS Alliance Standards of Excellence for Services to SIDS Families.

Second SIDS Family International Conference and Global Strategy for SIDS Symposium are held in Sydney, Australia, in February. Perinatology Press published the proceedings in February 1994.

1992

First SIDS Alliance national conference in St. Louis, Missouri.

Developed by the Program Support Center at First Candle with collaborative assistance from the Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy Loss Centers.