Black babies died suddenly and unexpectedly in their sleep at a rate 14 times higher than white babies in Cook County between 2019 and 2023 — a startling disparity revealed in a report released Wednesday by county and health officials.
“I know what it is like to be a Black woman in America, so when I see data like that, it shakes me to my core,” said Dr. Olusimbo Ige, Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner, during a news conference. “Babies are dying simply because mothers don’t have the information and the support that they need.”
In all, 208 infants in Cook County died suddenly and unexpectedly while sleeping between 2019 and 2023, with 99% of those deaths occurring in sleeping situations that are considered unsafe for babies, such as sleeping with another person, or sleeping with soft bedding items including pillows, blankets or stuffed animals, according to the report.
The report came from a joint effort between the Cook County medical examiner’s office and Rush University System for Health to collect and analyze data on sudden unexpected infant deaths in Cook County over five years. Sudden unexpected infant death has long been referred to as SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Nearly all cases of sudden unexpected infant death happened during sleep, according to the new report.
Many of the babies who died were born prematurely, many of the mothers were young and many were living in unstable housing, where they may not have had a crib and instead slept with their babies, Ige said. The deaths happened most frequently in South and West side communities.
Most of the babies, 83%, died before they were 6 months old, with deaths peaking between 1 and 2 months of age.
About 66% of the babies died while sleeping with another person, 93% died with soft bedding items in their sleep areas, and 16% died while temporarily away from their usual homes.
“This is really heartbreaking because these deaths are preventable,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, standing against a backdrop of hundreds of yellow onesies, representing the babies who lost their lives. Each onesie bore two tiny footprints and the initials of the infant who died.
Though there’s a disparity between Black and white babies who die in their sleep across the country, it was especially pronounced in Cook County.
Black babies died at a rate three times higher than white babies nationally, compared with a rate 14 times higher than white babies in Cook County. Latino babies died at a rate twice as high as white babies in Cook County.
“We know that communities of color continue to bear the greatest burden and that women of color are three times more likely to die from complications during pregnancy than white women,” said Dr. Kiran Joshi, Cook County Department of Public Health chief operating officer.
“It’s not your fault,” he said to those who have lost children. He said the inequities stem from factors such as poverty, unstable housing, a lack of access to health care and systemic racism.
The number of sleep-related infant deaths dropped slightly in 2022 and 2023 in Cook County, according to the report, but Joshi emphasized that “one death is too many.”
County and health leaders emphasized the importance Wednesday of following what they called the “ABCs” of safe sleep. Babies should sleep: A, alone; B, on their backs; and C, in a crib or bassinet.
“I know parents love their children,” said Dr. Kyran Quinlan, of Rush, who said he’s long been a pediatrician on the South and West sides and was part of the team behind the study. “Each of these deaths is a real tragedy … and if they knew how big a risk this is, they would do everything that they could. There’s no way to know that though because … you don’t hear about these deaths.”
Destiny Tyler, of Plainfield, has been trying to raise awareness of sleep-related deaths in infants since her son Kaiden Cherry died 11 years ago when he was 6 months old.
“I was just a young mom trying to figure it out,” she said at the news conference Wednesday. “I think like so many other mothers we feel like our child is safest with us, because we don’t know. Lack of education has caused a lot of losses.”
Tyler has been sharing her story for years, in hopes of preventing more deaths. She called the numbers in the report released Wednesday “shocking.”
“It’s sad to see that it’s still going on, it’s still not talked about enough,” Tyler said.
In 2022, the team that’s been analyzing sudden unexpected infant deaths in Cook County established the Community Partnership Approaches for Safe Sleep, which aims to educate families and community members about sleep-related infant death and safe sleep, partly through partnerships with community organizations.