Cot Death: How to reduce the risk

Put babies to sleep on their backs Don't smoke in pregnancy - both mother and father No smoking in the baby's room Don't let babies get too hot or cold Put baby to sleep with its feet at the foot of the cot (to stop it wriggling under the covers) Keep baby's head uncovered in bed If baby is unwell, seek medical advice promptly

The improvement means that the downward trend throughout the past few years is continuing.

The 10-year-campaign to encourage mothers to put their babies to sleep on their backs have been widely credited for this.

A spokesman for the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, said that the charity was "celebrating the success" of the campaign.

However, she added: "There are still a number of babies dying every week, and we have got to carry on getting the message across to mothers."

The Office of National Statistics analysed whether there were any similarities between cot death babies.

They found that the death rate was highest for babies weighing less than 2kg () - 12 time more than for those born weighing 3.5kg or more.

Young mothers, and those bringing up the baby on their own appeared to be more at risk of suffering a cot death.

Mothers who registered the birth of the baby without a named father were six times more likely to lose the baby through a cot death than married couples.

In addition, mothers with three or more children were 30% more likely to lose a subsequent child to cot death than those bringing up their first baby.

The advice given by FSID on how to reduce the risk of cot death remains the same - parents are urged to put their babies to sleep on their backs, and smoking by parents both in pregnancy and afterwards near the child is discouraged.

Baby deaths at or around the time of birth stayed the same - 8.2 deaths per 1,000 births.

The number of babies stillborn was 3,203 in 2000.