title: Failure of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in cases of sudden infant death.
abstract: We describe two cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and one case of apparent life threatening apnoea where resuscitation was attempted by the mouth-to-mouth route. This was associated with evidence of gastric distension, including reflux of milk into the airway in the first two cases. In the second case the mother used mouth-to-mouth breathing after finding that she could not cover her baby's nose-and-open-mouth with her mouth. In the last case, the mother went on to try the mouth-to-nose route, with a good outcome. Systematic documentation of the route of resuscitation and its outcome in all cases of SIDS and near-miss SIDS may provide valuable insights into the optimal route for infant resuscitation.
authors: New Zealand Cot Death Association, Avondale.
authors: S L
authors: SL
authors: Tonkin
authors: A J
authors: AJ
authors: Gunn
mesh_terms: D001049:Apnea / Q000628:therapy*; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D020127:Recovery of Function; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017211:Treatment Failure