The Dead Baby Mystery Summary and Analysis

In "The Dead Baby Mystery," Gawande describes a puzzling condition called Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). SIDS is the label given to unexplained infant deaths following an inconclusive postmortem investigation. Studies have suggested that sleeping on soft bedding or sleeping facedown increase's an infant's risk for SIDS. However, the cause of such unexplained infant deaths is still unknown and it is difficult to distinguish SIDS from foul play. For many parents of infants who died suddenly, they find themselves at the center of police investigations and accusations.

SIDS parents are not the only ones. Science can often only provide circumstantial evidence in child abuse cases—it is easier for science to determine that a burn or bone break exists rather than how it occurred. In such cases, it is people who can provide the...