Black babies more likely to die in my hometown county

A new study from Children's Memorial Research Center found that Cook County's black babies are 12 times more likely than white babies to die of sleep-related causes. Even worse, black infants are 17 times more likely to die of unknown sleep-related causes.

Sleep-related deaths include sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and unintentional suffocation in bed. According to Chicago Tribune reporter Deborah L. Shelton, sleep-related deaths account for 90 deaths a year in Cook County. The number may seem small, but the racial disparity is a serious public health issue. According to the research center, almost 20 percent of black infant mortality deaths in Cook County are sleep-related, while sleep-related deaths account for less than 5 percent of white infant mortality in the county.

I commend the researchers for acknowledging that decreasing the disparity must be a public health goal. I commend the project itself. What I take issue with is the lack of probing into why these deaths occur.

Shelton takes a blaming tone when she says, "In most cases, the infants had been sleeping in unsafe situations that put them at risk, such as being placed in a bed with a parent." She goes on to say that many babies "sleep alone but not in a crib or bassinet--often on a couch or pillow on the floor." This is the first mention of why these infants die, and subsequent references mention rollovers, accidental suffocation," children falling off beds and babies sleeping on lumpy sofas or cots.

There is no mention of the economic and social barriers that lead to these deaths. Do parents have the resources to learn about proper infant care, let alone buy a safe crib? Do cultural differences impact where babies sleep?

The only mention of economics comes from Sheila Sanders, project coordinator for the Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coaliton. She says some low-income apartments are often too small to fit a crib and an adult bed, forcing parents to bring their infant to bed with them. She does not explain why parents find themselves in such a predicament.

With shocking research like this, both researchers and reporters would do well to explore the deeper causes of such disparity. Parents may be partly to blame, but there are other societal forces at play here as well. It might be easier to blame the mother for snuggling up to her baby at night, rather than look beneath the surface to examine the cultural and social forces that bring that baby into bed with her.

We cannot make progress unless we unveil both the cultural underpinnings and the systemic disparities in income, education and both pre- and post-natal care. The cynic in me wants to say some are loathe to bring the black infant mortality to par with that of whites, but I refuse to let that attitude prevail. Rather, we should see this study not as a finger-pointing attack on black parents, but as a jumping off point for saving babies both black and white.

Photo Credit: University of North Texas Health Science Center