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THE very mention of the term 'cot death' fills parents with horror and trepidation. In Britain alone, ten babies die suddenly and unexpectedly of the syndrome every week. And recent statistics have revealed that more babies over the age of one-month fall victim to this fatal condition than to any other - but no-one knows why.

National Cot Death Appeal Week, which took place last week, sought to raise awareness of the problem.

Di Ross, 33, of Station Road, Loudwater, lost her four-month-old son Sam to cot death, seven years ago. Her memory of the hours leading up to his death and the painful weeks that followed, still remain vivid.

She recalls: "It was my first week back at work. We had been recommended to a childminder and Sam had had a couple of visits with her on his own. I dropped him off at 8am and at about 10am I had to phone to make sure he was alright because when I left him he was crying.

"All I got down the phone was a woman crying and shouting, saying he had stopped breathing and an ambulance was on its way. I just screamed and tried to get hold of my husband. I got to the Edgware Hospital and they just put me in a room like a broom cupboard. In there was a woman police officer, the childminder and a nurse.

"As soon as I saw the policewoman I asked what was going on. Then the nurse said they had tried resuscitating him and were trying to stabilise him. We didn't get to see Sam until 4pm. We went to intensive care and he was just lying there on monitors. Eventually his heart raced off."

When the initial shock of Sam's sudden death subsided, Di and her husband Steve, 30, a transport manager, were left asking questions to which they could find few answers.

Di says: "The post-mortem revealed nothing. The childminder just said he had been crying. She had given him his feed and put him to bed. I kept thinking if I had not gone to work that day, Sam would still be here. What hurts is that I never knew what happened to him in his final moments."

Di, a researcher at the Public Health Laboratory, became pregnant again soon after Sam's death. She now has a healthy six-year-old son, called Liam.

She says: "I was pregnant within the month with Liam. My husband said I should get pregnant straight away. He knew I would never have wanted to have a baby again otherwise."

Six years after giving birth to Liam, Di still finds it difficult to let him out of her sight. She says: "We were terrible when he was first born and we are now. I think we must over-protect him. I left going back to work until Liam was six-months-old. He came to my work nursery and they were great because they knew everything. Now he is at school, my mum has him.

"We don't let him out of our sight basically. I know there is going to be a time where I will have to let him walk up the street on his own. I do let him post letters in the post box next door now - but he has to run there and run back."

Di, who is now an active member of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, says new research into cot death can often be counter-productive.

She says: "When the Cook Report came out and said it was down to mattresses we were devastated, because the mattress we had bought for Sam was the worst one, according to the programme. Steve and I had arguments about it but then it turned out the report was inaccurate."

Di, Steve and Liam are determined not to let the past haunt their lives - but Sam will never be forgotten.

Di says: "If people ask me how many children I've got, I often say two."

According to the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, there are six things parents can do to reduce the risk of cot death:

Place your baby on the back to sleep

Cut out smoking in pregnancy - fathers too!

Do not let anyone smoke in the same room as your baby

Do not let your baby get too hot

Keep baby's head uncovered - place your baby in the "feet to foot" position, which involves putting the feet at the foot of the cot. This prevents babies from wriggling down under the covers and becoming too hot.

If your baby is unwell, seek advice promptly

% The Foundation runs a 24-hour helpline. Call: (0171) 2351721. Anyone interested in helping to fundraise for the charity should call Di on (01494) 528372

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