Dr Peter Sidebotham writes about one of the core themes from the SIDS International conference – interagency working in responding to infant deaths.

The subject of different professionals working together in responding to infant deaths was one of the core themes of the 10th SIDS international conference and seemed to generate a lot of interest amongst delegates from all round the world. This was a new venture for these conferences which reflects a growing awareness that if we are going to appropriately investigate sudden infant deaths, support families, and learn lessons for future prevention, we need each other. No one professional or group will have a monopoly of knowledge or skills when it comes to responding to an infant deaths, and yet, whilst we may come from different backgrounds and with different priorities, we are all united in wanting to discover why a baby has died, and how we can support each bereaved family in their grief.

The huge interest in this theme was reflected in the range of professionals attending the conference: I personally met paediatricians, health visitors, pathologists, police, bereavement support workers, government representatives and child protection specialists, as well as the many parents, researchers and other inspiring individuals. One of the highlights of the conference was a plenary session on the last day focusing on interagency working in different countries, with presentations from the UK, New Zealand, the USA and Europe. This was followed by a wide ranging discussion bringing in perspectives from many other regions of the world.

A lot of countries are striving to improve standards for investigating SUDI and working with families, and we have a lot to learn from each other. There were two particularly inspiring presentations from South Africa where, with quite limited resources and challenging demography, researchers and practitioners are striving to meet international standards for SUDI investigation.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is uncommon in developing countries but infant mortality overall remains high. There was a general feeling at the conference that it would be good to explore how approaches to child death review and SUDI investigation can be appropriately adapted to serve the needs of different populations. Similarly, there are lessons that we in the so called developed countries can learn from our counterparts in Asia, Africa and South America. This was highlighted in a powerful way by Dr Anthony Costello during the opening plenary. Dr Costello demonstrated how, by working with mothers in the community, they had been able to reduce both maternal and infant mortality in quite dramatic ways with minimal resources. As the epidemiology of SIDS continues to shift with a focus on more disadvantaged families and communities, perhaps some of the same approaches could be used here in the UK to support families and prevent future deaths.