Black babies died in their sleep suddenly and unexpectedly at a rate 14 times higher than white babies in Cook County, according to a recent report by county health officials.
The report, produced by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office and Rush University System for Health, collected and analyzed data on sudden unexpected infant deaths in Cook County between 2019 and 2023. 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.
Between 2019 and 2023, 208 infants in Cook County died suddenly and unexpectedly while sleeping, with 99 percent of those deaths occurring in unsafe sleeping conditions such as sleeping with another person or sleeping with soft bedding items, including pillows, blankets, or stuffed animals, the report found…