Sir, - Regarding Dr Michael Simpson's claim (October 24th) that the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is due to "inattentive mothers who fail to bond with their babies", could I make the following comments? This assertion is based on no data, To my knowledge, there has been no study showing that a failure of mother infant bonding was independently associated with an increased risk of SIDS.
Unsubstantiated assertions implying parental blame must be grievously hurtful to bereaved parents, their relatives and friends and, I believe, places an onus on all of us to compel those making such a claim to produce the data on which it is based for review. Surely a caring society should protect bereaved parents from unproven claims that their loss is the result of their own parental incompetence. - Yours, etc.,
Paediatrician,
The Children's Hospital,
Temple Street,
Dublin 1.