Abstract
There is a general perception that the cause of cot death remains unknown. This is not so. The cause of cot death (often erroneously termed Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS) has been elucidated as being due to extremely toxic ‘nerve’ gases generated by fungal activity on chemicals frequently present in cot mattresses and in certain other bedding commonly used in baby bedding. However, this explanation, often referred to in Britain as ‘the Richardson Hypothesis’, has aroused considerable controversy, especially among individuals and organizations closely associated with cot death. Interventions based on this explanation have been widely advocated in two countries: first in Britain (1989 and 1994) and far more intensively in New Zealand through a nationwide public information programme from late 1994 continouously to the present. Both interventions were followed by significant reductions in cot death, especially the 10‐year ‘mattress‐wrapping’ programme in New Zealand. Mattress‐wrapping (a logical intervention based on the toxic gas explanation) is an obvious corollary to that explanation. If this intervention method is successful in preventing cot death, that outcome provides very strong proof of the validity of the explanation. And this has been the outcome—during the 10‐year intervention period in NZ there has never been a report of a cot death when the baby has been sleeping on a mattress wrapped in accordance with the simple protocol based on the explanation, and the NZ cot death rate has fallen markedly. Given the close examination of all cot deaths in New Zealand (about 650 from 1995 to the present) nil reported deaths on wrapped mattresses effectively means that there have been no such deaths. The apparently total success of the intervention, and the reduction in cot deaths, provide a standard of proof of the toxic gas explanation which nullifies the opposition of those who would deny it. The success of mattress‐wrapping for the prevention of cot death is such that it behoves all people and organizations who provide advice to parents about cot death prevention to inform parents of the NZ experience using this technique.