Citation

Rodriguez NA, Hageman JR, Pellerite M. J. Pediatr. 2018; 200: 298-299.

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics Division of Neonatology NorthShore University HealthSystem Evanston; Department of Pediatrics Division of Neonatology Pritzker School of Medicine The University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.04.031

PMID

29784515

Abstract

We read the report by Bass et al with great interest; they state that the percentage of sudden unexpected infant deaths attributed to unsafe sleep conditions has increased significantly, with 29.2% of the cases occurring within the first 6 days of life.1 The percentage of neonatal cases attributed to mechanical suffocation bed or cradle/accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed increased 11-fold, from 2.1% in 1995 to 22.7% in 2014. This period corresponds to a rapid rise in the use of smartphones and social media; therefore, we theorize that maternal distraction from smartphone use may be contributing substantially to the rise in sudden unexpected postnatal collapse (SUPC) cases worldwide.

Language: en