Once a Week in Cook County, Another Sleeping Infant Dies

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle joins leaders from Rush and Medical Examiner’s Office to mark start of SIDS Awareness Month and unveil five-year report that uncovers lessons for protecting infants 

Of all the worries parents face when they bring home their newborn child, the greatest threat occurs when it may seem least likely – while their baby is asleep.  

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle joined the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, Rush and community members today to mark the beginning of SIDS Awareness Month with the release of a five-year report examining these deaths. The goal is to let families and people who care for children see the magnitude of this public health threat and understand how babies are protected by safe sleep practices. 

Since 2019, each sudden unexpected infant death has been examined and recorded in the Cook County Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) Case Registry, a collaboration between the Medical Examiner's Office and Rush University System for Health. From 2019 to 2023, 208 families lost an infant to a sleep-related death. In honor of those babies, 208 onesies lined the wall behind the speakers. 

“On average, one infant in Cook County dies each week due to sudden unexpected infant death,” President Preckwinkle said. "We want the information in this report to arm parents and caregivers with knowledge about the dangers that can take the life of newborns and infants.” 

To look more deeply into these infant deaths, the Medical Examiner’s Office, led by Chief Medical Examiner Ponni Arunkumar, partnered with Rush on the study.  

“We see that small changes in an infant’s environment can mean the difference between life and death,” Dr. Arunkumar said. “Our hope is that by shining a spotlight on these deaths, we can prevent them.” 

The registry team gathers the details of each death and analyzes the information to find common situations, ages, backgrounds, health histories and more. These facts help identify which babies may be most at risk, what situations are a danger and what information families and communities need. For example, in the registry’s first five years, 99% of these deaths occurred while the infant was sleeping in an unsafe environment, such as sharing a bed with an adult or in a space with soft items, like a blanket or pillow, or products like baby loungers and nursing pillows. 

“Each one of these deaths is painful, a devastating loss to their loved ones,” said Kyran Quinlan, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics at Rush who established the registry. “Sleep-related deaths are by far the biggest threat to a baby once home from the hospital.” 

The report analyzed the deaths to help create ways to prevent them, said Gina Lowell, MD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics at Rush and principal investigator for the registry.  

Two-thirds of deaths occurred when the infant was sharing an adult bed, couch or other sleep surface with another person, and nine out of 10 died with soft bedding items in their sleep environment. Most babies died before they were six months old, and 27% were premature.  

The report shows there continues to be large racial and ethnic disparities, with Black and Hispanic infants dying at rates 14 and 2.3 times higher than white infants, respectively. Though sleep-related infant deaths declined modestly in 2022 and 2023 in Cook County, “much work remains to raise awareness of these tragedies and effectively promote safe infant sleep practices to prevent them,” Lowell said.  

“The key to understanding safe sleep practices is to remember that preventing suffocation prevents these deaths,” Lowell said. “That means having nothing that could block the airway or compress the neck or chest when they are sleeping.”  

Felicia Tillis-Clark is the prevention coordinator for Community Partnership Approaches for Safe Sleep, which was created by the SUID Case Registry team in 2022. Housed at Rush University Children’s Hospital, CPASS Chicago joins trusted community partners to connect with families to start conversations about sleep-related infant death and safe sleep practices.  

Before taking on her prevention coordinator role, Tillis-Clark was the infant death scene investigator for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. 

“I saw the pain families endure when an infant dies,” Tillis-Clark said. “Talking about sleep-related infant deaths is hard, but if we can discuss it with compassion and without judgment, we can better understand what babies and families need.” 

Under Tillis-Clark’s leadership, CPASS Chicago creates a safe place for open discussions about the barriers to safe sleep, including the real and often challenging circumstances that affect families every day. At community baby showers, resource fairs, neighborhood events and more, the CPASS team listens and educates about sleep-related infant death, empowering parents to lead the way to safer sleep. 

Destiny Tyler draws from her own pain when talking about safe sleep with family, friends “or anyone who will listen.” Today she spoke about the loss of her 6-month-old son Kaiden, who died in his sleep.  

“You never think it will happen to you until it does, and if sharing my experience can prevent even one family from going through this heartbreak, then it’s worth every conversation,” she said. “My goal is not to scare anyone, but to inform and educate, because so many people simply don’t know, and knowledge really can make a difference.” 

Visit rush.edu/suid to view the Cook County Sleep-Related Infant Death Five-Year Report.