Babies Needed for SIDS Study

Volunteers are needed for a study on sudden infant death syndrome. About 30 more healthy babies are needed for a study of breathing pauses and heart-rate changes in newborns to complete research on the six-year National Institutes of Health Collaborative Home Infant Monitoring Evaluation.

Babies will be hooked up to tiny computers while they sleep at home and their vital signs measured to see if there is a marked difference in babies who may be susceptible to SIDS. Volunteer babies will receive periodic physical and developmental exams, but won't be subject to X-rays, blood tests or other invasive procedures.

Three local hospitals--County-USC Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles--are participating.

To be eligible, babies must be younger than 30 days old, or the mother must be pregnant with a due date no later than Feb. 28. The babies must be full term with no apnea or family history of SIDS.

For more information, call Marlene Vasquez-Olea at County-USC, (213) 226-3266; Lucy Kunzman at Childrens, (213) 669-2101; or Esther Valdovinos at Good Samaritan, (213) 977-4123.