Smoking ban may cut cot death numbers

THE smoking ban may help reduce the number of babies lost every year to cot death, experts said yesterday.

Smoking is a major factor in cot death, or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), with babies exposed to smoking four times more likely to die.

According to the National Sudden Infant Death Register, the number of parents who smoke has fallen by almost a quarter over the past 10 years, but the Government-funded body is hopeful the ban on smoking will further reduce the number of parents who smoke and babies’ exposure to smoke in public places.