The cause of the number-one killer of apparently healthy infants between the ages of one week and one yearaSudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)acontinues to defy science. This cruel mystery intensifies an already painful experience for bereaved parents, who frequently blame themselves for their babyas death. This book explores how parents grieve, the meanings and casual explanations they attribute to a SIDS death, the effects of their grief on family relationships, and the strategies they use to cope and carry on. Karen Martinas grounded theory study describes in detail the experiences of mothers and fathers whose babies died of SIDS ranging from less than one to over twenty-five years after the babyas death. Her work makes an important contribution to health fields and to the social science of medicine, and is a critical resource for family doctors, public health nurses, counsellors, ministers, and all those working with grieving parents.