The police are authorised to investigate unexpected deaths and they could visit, take photographs and perhaps remove the baby's bedding. Since it was founded in 1971, FSID has spent over 8 million on research. All research funded by FSID is rigorously assessed by independent scientists and doctors. We believe that, in order to reduce the rate of cot death further, we need to understand what makes babies healthy. The rate remained fairly constant in England and Wales at about two per 1,000 live births from 1971 to 1988, and then began to decline.
Cot death remains the most common kind of death in babies aged under one year.
All 28 days to one year. It is similar to countries such as France, Norway and Sweden. In recent years the rate in many industrialised countries has declined, as in the UK, following the introduction of Reduce the Risk campaigns. Cot deaths used to happen more often in the winter, but this winter peak has almost disappeared since the Reduce the Risk campaign.