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Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.
Fetus and newborn affected by maternal factors and by complications of pregnancy, labour and deliveryIll-defined and unknown causes of mortality
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There are about 350 Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Infancy (SUDI) each year in England. Cigarette smoking by mothers before and after the birth increases risk of SUDI. Vaping or e-cigarettes can help people to stop smoking, but many young adults vape having never smoked cigarettes before. Cigarettes and vapes contain nicotine, in pregnancy this can harm a baby’s brain development and could explain why smoking increases risk of SUDI. This research aims to find out if vaping is a risk for SUDI because at present this is unknown. It is an important issue because increasing numbers of young adults are starting to vape.
When a child dies unexpectedly, there is a full investigation including a post-mortem examination and case review. All the information from these investigations is held at the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD). We will obtain detailed case information for SUDI between 2020-2023. We will review cases and divide them into two groups for further study: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS – unexplained infant deaths) and explained SUDI (deaths where the cause has been identified such as infection). We expect there will be around 400 SIDS and 400 explained SUDI cases.
We have worked with mothers to create an online questionnaire about smoking, vaping, cannabis use and other SUDI risk factors. We will invite mothers of infants to complete the questionnaire by text messages sent from Birmingham Community Healthcare. We need around 400 mothers to complete the questionnaire.
We will compare parents smoking and vaping habits between SUDI cases and surviving infants to calculate risks.
The study will start in April 2025 and last 24 months.
We will share our results at conferences and by publishing scientific papers. Our results will be used to update advice for pregnant mothers on risks from vaping and smoking.
Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.
The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:
Observational type: Case-controlled study;
You can take part if:
You may not be able to take part if:
Controls Lack of consent from mother Infant living with carer other than mother Cases sudden infant deaths with immediately apparent cause such as trauma or sepsis deaths where child death review is incomplete by 31 December 2025 Deaths of infants reported to the National Child Mortality Database that occurred outside of England as these will have very limited clinical information available
Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.
The study is sponsored by University of Birmingham and funded by THE LULLABY TRUST .
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Read full details
for Trial ID: CPMS 68405
You can print or share the study information with your GP/healthcare provider or contact the research team directly.
