Sudden Unexpected Infant Death

Each year in the United States, approximately 3,400 infants die suddenly and unexpectedly, often during sleep or in their sleep environment.^1-3 These deaths are referred to with the umbrella term sudden unexpected infant death (SUID).^1-3

Risk Factors

Are Some Populations More At-Risk Than Others?

SUID can occur in infants and families of any background, but some groups are more affected than others. There are persistent racial and ethnic disparities in SUID rates that reflect broader patterns of inequity.^2,5 Infants born in communities experiencing poverty and racism are more likely to experience multiple SUID risk factors at the same time.^2,5

In Washington state from 1999 to 2021, American Indian/Alaska Native infants, Black infants, Pacific Islander infants, and multi-race infants died from SUID at disproportionately high rates compared to White infants.⁶ During this same time, Asian and Hispanic infants died from SUID at lower rates compared to White infants.⁶

In Spokane County from 2018 to 2021, SUID was the

• Third leading cause of death during the first year of life⁴
• First leading cause of death after an infant’s first month of life until their first birthday⁴

From 2018 to 2021, there was no significant difference between Spokane County’s SUID mortality rate and Washington state’s SUID mortality rate.⁴

For Parents and Caretakers

Creating and following a safe sleep plan is the most important thing that people caring for babies can do to reduce their baby’s risk of SUID.⁷ Learn about how to create a safe sleep plan for your baby using evidence-based strategies in the Safe Sleep flyer, booklet, and video series.

For Medical, Social Service, and Childcare Professionals

Medical professionals, social service professionals, and childcare professionals are influential messengers and should consistently endorse, discuss, and model safe sleep practices with patients and clients.² Ideally, conversations about safe sleep should start when someone is planning to welcome an infant into their family, like during pregnancy.² In conversations about safe sleep, professionals should use a flexible, stigma-free risk mitigation approach, which includes discussing strategies to reduce the risk of SUID if unsafe sleep practices do occur.

Professional Resources

Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) developed a suite of materials that medical, social service and childcare professionals can use to support people with creating and following a safe sleep plan for their baby to reduce risk of sudden unexpected infant death (SUID), including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). These evidence-based resources include a discussion guide and a free 90-minute webinar to support professionals’ ability to prevent SUID by promoting safe sleep and safe sleep educational materials for the general public.

Educational Materials

The safe sleep educational materials can be shared and used in conversations about safe sleep in your professional setting. Local community and professional feedback was used to make an educational flyer, booklet, and video series based on the 2022 safe sleep recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The flyer and booklet are available in multiple languages and include QR codes linking to the online video series. Visit Your Baby’s Safe Sleep Plan to view the video series.

Organizations in Spokane County that would like to use the discussion guide, booklet and flyer to promote safe sleep in our community can request printed copies of these materials by mail at no charge. If you are interested in receiving these free resources, complete the request form linked below.

REFERENCES

1. Sudden unexpected infant death and sudden infant death syndrome: data and statistics. cdc.gov. March 8, 2023. Accessed June 27, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/sids/data.htm.
2. Moon RY, Carlin RF, Hand I, Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Sleep-related infant deaths: Updated 2022 recommendations for reducing infant deaths in the sleep environment. Pediatrics. 2022;150(1). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-057990.
3. About suid and sids. cdc.gov. June 28, 2022. Accessed June 27, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/sids/about/index.htm.
4. Washington State Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics, Linked Birth and Death File, 1990–2021, Community Health Assessment Tool (CHAT), July 2023. Calculations by Spokane Regional Health District, Data Center.
5. Bartick M, Tomori C. Sudden infant death and social justice: A syndemics approach. Maternal Child Nutrition. 2019;15(1):e12652. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12652.
6. Washington State Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics, Linked Birth and Death File, 1990–2021, Community Health Assessment Tool (CHAT), August 2023.
7. Cole R, Young J, Kearney L, Thompson JM. Infant care practices, caregiver awareness of safe sleep advice and barriers to implementation: A scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;19(13):7712. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137712.
8. Menon M, Huber R, West DD, Scott S, Russell RB, Berns SD. Community-based approaches to infant safe sleep and breastfeeding promotion: A qualitative study. BMC Public Health. 2023;23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15227-4.