The researchers behind the 2005 scientific review estimated that the collective failure, led by Dr. Spock, to alter the advice on safe-sleep for infants in a timely fashion, resulted in millions of infant deaths in the UK, Europe, the USA, and Australasia after 1970.

Though most parents today are probably more familiar with a different, pointy-eared Spock, in his heyday during the 1950s and 60s, Dr. Spock was one of the most recognizable and respected public figures in the world. When he spoke or wrote, people – and particularly parents – listened intently.


