Dr Spock’s dangerous advice on baby sleep

The historical reliance on unsubstantiated medical advice over empirical evidence led to a global health crisis involving Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Helen Pearson, author of *Beyond Belief*, highlights how Dr. Benjamin Spock’s 1958 recommendation for babies to sleep on their fronts—intended to prevent choking—was adopted by millions despite lacking scientific validation. This shift coincided with a tragic "epidemic" of cot deaths across Western nations. While early case-control studies in 1965 and 1970 hinted at the dangers of front-sleeping, the signal was lost in statistical noise until the 1991 "Back to Sleep" campaign. Retrospective meta-analysis reveals that if data from 1970 had been properly synthesized, approximately 50,000 infant deaths could have been prevented. The narrative serves as a cautionary tale regarding the lethal consequences of "received wisdom" and underscores the vital role of systematic reviews in identifying life-saving truths within complex medical data.