Unexpected Death in Childhood

Peter Sidebotham is a Consultant Senior Lecturer in Child Health at the University of Warwick. His main clinical interests are in child protection, sudden unexpected death in infancy and child development and disability. During seven years in Bristol, Dr Sidebotham helped to build up an internationally-acclaimed clinical and academic service for sudden unexpected deaths in infancy. Since moving to Warwickshire, he has built on this experience to work with colleagues in developing a local service of responding to unexpected childhood deaths. He is a council member with the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths and sits on the child protection standing committee of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Dr Sidebotham is the director of the Warwick Advanced Course in the Management of Unexpected Childhood Death. He is heading up a research team with ongoing research into chi8ld death review processes. Peter Fleming is Professor of Infant Health and Developmental Physiology at the University of Bristol. His clinical practice is in the fields o newborn intensive care, developmental assessment and investigation and care of children with sleep-related disorders, particularly involving breathing. His research is in the areas of developmental physiology, mother/baby interactions (particularly during sleep) and large-scale studies of factors contribut98ng to sudden death in infants. He also has a particular clinical and research interest in the provision of bereavement care to parents after the death of a baby or child. He is a world leader in research into sudden unexpected death in infancy and has published extensively on this and other topics. He has won numerous awards for his work, including a CBE awarded for services to the understanding and prevention of cot deaths. Professor Fleming is a member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Neonatal Society, the British Association of Perinatal Medicine, the British Sleep Society and the Paediatric Intensive Care Society.

Foreword Preface A note on terminology Contributors Acknowledgements Part 1: Understanding Childhood Death Chapter 1: A family's journey Anne Chalmers Chapter 2: Childhood deaths in context Peter Sidebotham, Peter Fleming Chapter 3: Natural causes of childhood death Peter Fleming, Peter Sidebotham Chapter 4: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Peter Blair Chapter 5: Deaths from unintentional injuries Jo Sibert, Peter Sidebotham Chapter 6: Fatal child maltreatment Peter Sidebotham Part 2: Responding when a child dies Chapter 7: Responding to unexpected infant deaths Peter Sidebotham, Peter Fleming Chapter 8: Police investigation in unexpected deaths John Fox Chapter 9: The paediatric post mortem Phil Cox Chapter 10: Supporting families Alison Stewart, Ann Dent Part 3: Learning lessons Chapter 11: Reviewing child deaths Martin Ward Platt Chapter 12: Serious case reviews Paul Tudor Appendices* Emergency Department Flowchart and checklist* History Proforma* Physical Examination Proforma* Laboratory Investigations* Scene Examination Proforma* Resources for families* Resources for health professionals* Practical information for families* Opportunities to be with their child* Foot prints and photos* Framework for assessment of family needs and stressors* Child Belief Network Statement* Case Discussion Proforma* CDRT Core data set* CDRT proforma for analysis* Audit tools for establishing a child death review team References Index