Infants are dying about once a week on average in Cook County — most frequently on Chicago’s South and West sides.
That’s according to a report from Rush University Medical Center and the Cook County medical examiner’s office, which identified 208 sudden and unexpected infant deaths between 2019 and 2023.
In October 2025, Rush University Medical in partnership with the Cook County medical examiner’s office released the report using data from the Sudden Unexpected Infant Death-Case Registry.
U.S. Rep. Danny Davis joined medical professionals and community advocates Friday at the West Austin Child Development Center to raise awareness about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and other sleep-related infant deaths.
For years, many of these deaths were categorized as SIDS because the exact cause was unclear, said Dr. Gina Lowell, the study’s principal investigator. But a closer examination of the cases revealed a common pattern.
“When we looked at our babies, our 208 babies who died here in Cook County from 2019 to 2023, we found that the majority of them were in adult beds or on couches,” Lowell said.
Lowell warned during the news conference that those numbers are rising — projecting that there were 52 sleep-related deaths in 2025.
The report found sleep-related infant deaths happened most frequently in South and West side communities facing higher levels of poverty, crowded housing, unemployment and educational disparities.
“You may not have the bandwidth to remember how to place your baby asleep to save their life when you’re already thinking about saving your family’s life in so many other ways,” Lowell said.
Tamera Fair, CEO of Premier Child Care facilities in the Chicago area, said sometimes “bonding can turn into a crisis in a nanosecond.”
“We had a family who was breastfeeding,” Fair said. “The mother rolled over on the baby, and that baby died. That was a tragedy for every family here at West Austin Child Development.”
Felicia Clark, prevention coordinator for CPASS Chicago and a former child death investigator with the Cook County medical examiner’s office, said oftentimes parents mimic the habits of their matriarchs.
“Families will always say, ‘I didn’t think it could happen to me. I slept with my baby, my mom slept with me,'” Clark said. “Behind every statistic is a baby who was loved and a family whose life has been forever changed.”
The report also found Black infants died due to a sleep-related deaths at a rate 14 times higher than white infants, and the rate was 2.3 times higher among Hispanic infants than white infants.
Clark said the good news is that most sleep-related infant deaths are preventable.
Health experts recommend that babies sleep alone, on their backs and in a crib, bassinet or play yard with a firm mattress and fitted sheet. Parents should avoid couches, adult beds, blankets, pillows, stuffed animals and other loose items in a baby’s sleep space.
“If we can ensure babies can breathe easy, we will prevent these deaths,” Lowell said. “If we can guard their breathing, make it easy for our babies to breathe, we’ll save their lives.”
