Infant Mortality

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What is Safe Sleep?

Putting baby to sleep in ways that can help protect him/her from dangers, such as choking, suffocation, and sudden unexpected infant death (SUID).

What is Unsafe Sleep?

Anything in the caretaker’s control that could increase an infant’s risk of sleep-related death.

This could be due to a number of factors, sleeping position, sleeping surface, sleeping environment, cultural customs and belief, simply not knowing safe sleep practices and the recommendations.

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Sudden Unexpected Infant Death

What is it?
Sudden unexpected infant death is a sudden and unexpected death of a baby aged younger than 1 year. There is no obvious cause of death and often happens during sleep or in the baby’s sleep area.

Although SUID is not always due unsafe sleep, it can include factors such as sleeping position, sleeping surface, and sleeping environment.

Sudden unexpected infant deaths include:

• Sudden infant death syndrome.
• Accidental suffocation in a sleeping environment.
• Other deaths from unknown causes.

What are the risk factors?

Age: SUID is most common for babies between 1 and 4 months. But it can happen at any time during the first year of life.

Time of year: Infants born during the colder months are at a disadvantage because as parents, we want to ensure our babies are warm when they’re sleeping – it’s just our natural instinct. So, during the winter, when the temperature is lower, babies are more likely to have blankets in their sleeping environment, which is dangerous because babies can pull the blanket over their face and suffocate.

Health status: Premature babies are at a higher risk due to their health status as well, and may have other compromising conditions that could attribute to SUID (respiratory issues, heart complications, etc.).

Race: Black babies are 2.5-3 times more likely than white babies to die due to SUID and this does not take into account any other type of disparity such as education level, marital status, or socioeconomic status.

How can families reduce their baby’s risk of SUID?

• Follow safe sleep practices
• Don’t smoke around baby
• Breastfeed baby, if possible
• Make sure baby receives all necessary vaccinations

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Unsafe Sleep Deaths in Ohio

Putting safe sleep deaths into perspective, statewide in Ohio there are 3 unsafe sleep deaths each week, which equates to ~150 infant unsafe sleep deaths per year.

45% of those that were due to an infant sleeping in an adult bed (co-sleeping).

Between 2020-2023, there were over 200 babies who died before their first birthday in Summit and Mahoning County, combined. The majority of those families were either co-sleeping with their babies in bed, or in the care of someone other the parent/primary caregiver who was not aware of safe sleep practices.

The infant mortality rate in Summit County and Mahoning County displays significant racial disparities. Data shows in Summit County, Black/Non-Hispanic babies die at 2.8 times the rate of White/Non-Hispanic babies, and in Mahoning County, Black /Non-Hispanic babies die at 4.3 times the rate of White/Non-Hispanic babies (2020-2023).

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