Sleep Experts Say These Traditional Flax Cots Could Help Prevent SIDS

They are simple woven bassinets used for thousands of years among the New Zealand Maori populations. Now experts say the modern version, known as the wahakura, could help lower the high prevalence of sudden infant death syndrome in the indigenous population. Between 50 and 85 deaths due to SIDS occur every year in New Zealand - 62 per cent of these among the Maori. It is believed this is because of cultural differences including Māori mothers’ tendency to share a bed with their infants at night, and to smoke during pregnancy.

The head of the study, Sally Baddock, is from the School of Midwifery at Otago Polytechnic, told the Huffington Post,

“The wahakura provides a positive alternative to ‘direct bed-sharing’ ― when the baby and mother sleep in the same bed ― that still allows close contact with mother and baby [and] provides a separate sleeping space for the baby”

The beds are woven from New Zealand flax plants, which make the beds soft and flexible ― so Māori mothers can place the woven bassinets directly in their own beds. This is the first peer-reviewed study to quantify the risks and benefits of the wahakaura and show that they are as safe as other bassinets. It also means these baby baskets may now be used among other indigenous populations with higher rates of SIDS. (Image via Wahakaura)

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Sleep Experts Say These Traditional Flax Cots Could Help Prevent SIDS