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sharing when the infant was sleeping
with people other than the parents.”
The researchers also reported that
sleeping with the mother alone did not
reduce infants’ risk of SIDS, as some
researchers have concluded on the
basis of earlier studies.
The researchers noted that sleeping
on the stomach and sleeping on soft
bedding—both known to increase the
risk of SIDS independently—posed a
much greater risk for SIDS when
occurring together than might be
expected. For example, soft bedding
appeared to pose 5 times the risk of
SIDS as firm bedding; sleeping on the
stomach increased the risk of SIDS 2.4
times. Yet infants who slept stomach
down on soft bedding had 21 times
the risk of SIDS as infants who slept
on the back on firm bedding.
Of the SIDS cases, 15 were found to
have slept on a sofa the last time they
were placed to sleep. The researchers
do not know why sleeping on a sofa
would increase the risk of SIDS more
than would sleep on a bed, yet they
warn that the practice appears to be
highly dangerous.
Since the start of the NICHD-led
campaign in 1994, the SIDS rates for
African American infants and white
infants have declined by about 50 per-
cent, but a significant disparity still
remains.
Machismo AffectingMen’s Health
Poor health literacy and machis-
mo are hazards to the health of
Hispanic men, but innovative commu-
nity programs can help overcome that,
according to a report presented March
21, 2003, at the 7th annual conference
of the National Hispanic Medical
Association (NHMA).
By addressing the cultural, linguis-
tic and social barriers to good health,
Latino men can be empowered to live
healthier lives, as shown in one of
many model programs that will be dis-
cussed at the conference of leading
Hispanic health professionals.
NHMA is calling for national
health policy that would:
• Provide more research to understand
the need for integrating culture and
language in health delivery and pre-
ventive medicine
• Advocate for state and federal reim-
bursement for interpreter services in
health care
• Create a State Children’s Health
Insurance Program (SCHIP) as a
federal program and expand it to
include parents
• Expand existing programs to cover
preventive services, including oral
and mental health
• Advocate for employee-based health
insurance for migrant workers
• Support community access pro-
grams, faith-based initiatives, com-
munity health centers and safety net
providers
• Increase recruitment of Hispanic
students and faculty into the health
professions
• Increase support for the Office of
Minority Health at the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Those initiatives are based on the suc-
cess of programs such as El Circulo De
Hombres (the men’s circle) in El Paso,
TX, which tackles the widening dispro-
portionate disparities in health care for
Latino men and takes into account
societal and cultural barriers to timely
and preventive health care. For exam-
ple, diabetes accounts for 4 percent of
all deaths for Mexican American men,
versus 2.5 percent for non-Hispanic
whites. And 82 percent of Mexican
American men report sexual dysfunc-
tion, yet less than half will discuss it
with their physician because of embar-
rassment. Also, 37 percent of Hispanic
men, versus 21 percent of non-
Hispanic whites, die prematurely of
heart disease.
Many Hispanic men don’t go to the
health care provider, even when access
is not an issue, because of the machis-
mo attitude that seeking health care is
a sign of weakness. El Circulo’s pro-
gram allows men to understand their
illness and to openly discuss the stress-
es and anxieties that affect their well-
being, while respecting their culture
and without the fear of being consid-
ered weak or not macho.
Newborn Brain InjuriesDuring Childbirth
Most newborn brain injury cases
don’t occur during labor and
delivery, rather, most instances of
neonatal encephalopathy and cerebral
palsy are attributable to events occur-
ring before labor begins, according to a
joint report recently released by
experts at the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(ACOG) and the American Academy
of Pediatrics (AAP).
The report, Neonatal
Encephalopathy and Cerebral Palsy:
Defining the Pathogenesis and
Pathophysiology, gives evidence that
the vast majority of neonatal
encephalopathy and cerebral palsy
originates from developmental or
metabolic abnormalities, autoimmune
and coagulation defects, infection,
trauma or combinations of these fac-
tors. The report has received the
endorsement of six organizations
including the National Institute of
Child Health and Human
Development of the National Institutes
of Health and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Newborn encephalopathy and cere-
bral palsy are associated with signifi-
cant mortality rates and long-term
morbidity and have been central in the
assignment of blame in obstetric liti-
gation. However, the report confirmed
that hypoxia (or insufficient supply of
oxygen) during labor or delivery is not
a significant cause in most of the cases
of neonatal encephalopathy or cerebral
palsy, with less than one-quarter of
June | July 2003 AWHONN Lifelines 213