Success of mattress-wrapping and BabeSafe products

Mattress-wrapping for cot death prevention, which has been publicised in New Zealand for over six years, has had a 100% success rate. More than 400 cot deaths occurred in New Zealand during the years 1995 to 1999 inclusive, but there has been no reported cot death among the many tens of thousands of babies who have slept on mattresses wrapped to the Cot Life 2000 specifications. The New Zealand cot death rate has fallen markedly since mattress-wrapping commenced in late 1994. From 1994 to 1999 the nationwide rate fell from 2.1/1000 live births to 1.1/1000, i.e. a reduction of 48%. The reduction in the Pakeha (European) cot death rate was dramatic: an estimated 70%. These major reductions in cot death cannot be attributed to the cot death prevention advice publicised by the New Zealand Ministry of Health and the New Zealand Cot Death Association. There has been no material change in that advice since 1992. Sales information relating to BabeSafe mattress covers shows that tens of thousands of New Zealand babies have slept on wrapped mattresses, and also that mattress-wrapping has been enthusiastically adopted by Pakeha (European) parents. The Ministry of Health has confirmed that mattress-wrapping is more prevalent among the Pakeha community than among other ethnic groups. There is an urgent need for New Zealand babycare professionals to stress mattress-wrapping advice to the Maori community. Although the incidence of Maori cot death has fallen since mattress-wrapping began, it is still high (2.8/1000). Whereas in the early 1990s the Maori cot death rate was about four times the Pakeha rate, it is now seven times the Pakeha rate. This, of course, reflects the marked decrease in Pakeha cot death since mattress-wrapping commenced. Over the past six years a considerable body of research has been reported which supports the toxic gas theory for cot death (on which mattress-wrapping is based). Contrary to media publicity, the 1998 UK Limerick Report did not disprove the toxic gas theory, a fact which has been confirmed in the New Zealand Medical Journal. In fact, the Limerick Committee's experiments proved the gas generation on which the toxic gas theory for cot death is based. Parents, however, are more interested in the practical proof: no reported cot death on a correctly wrapped mattress.  From 1995 to 1999 inclusive, over 400 cot deaths occurred in New Zealand. But there has been no reported cot death on a BabeSafe mattress or on a BabeSafe mattress cover