Chicago, Illinois – Unsafe sleep practices are a significant factor in most sudden unexpected infant deaths in the United States. A recent study published in Pediatrics revealed that three-quarters of infants who succumbed to these tragic deaths were found to be affected by multiple unsafe practices at the time of passing. Nearly 60% of these infants were sharing a sleep surface with another person, a practice discouraged by leading medical organizations due to its association with an increased risk of mortality.
Sudden unexpected infant death syndrome, or SUID, claims the lives of approximately 3,400 infants annually in the U.S. This category includes infants under the age of 1 who die suddenly and unexpectedly, with causes ranging from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) to accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed. A startling finding from the study is the prevalence of bedsharing, also known as surface sharing, among the infants studied, despite strong recommendations against this practice from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other health agencies.
The study, which examined 7,595 infants who died from SUID between 2011 and 2020, found that infants who were bedsharing at the time of death exhibited certain characteristics that set them apart from non-bedsharing infants. These characteristics included being younger (0 to 3 months old), of non-Hispanic Black descent, uninsured or covered by Medicaid, and exposed to maternal cigarette smoking in utero. Additionally, bedsharing infants were more likely to be found on their backs in an adult bed, chair, or couch, and in the care of someone impaired by drugs or alcohol.
Despite guidelines recommending safe sleep practices – such as placing infants on a firm, flat surface free of soft bedding and sleeping close to parents but on a separate sleep surface – the rates of sudden unexpected infant deaths in the U.S. have shown minimal improvement in the past two decades. Racial-ethnic disparities in these deaths are widening, with increasing rates among non-Hispanic Black infants.
To address this issue, it is crucial for healthcare providers to consider cultural practices and beliefs when advising families on safe sleep practices. Efforts to provide free cribs to families in need, as well as ongoing research into effective methods of educating parents on safe sleep, are underway. By focusing on high-risk families and implementing targeted interventions, there is hope for reducing sudden unexpected infant deaths and addressing persistent racial-ethnic disparities in these tragic events.