dying at a higher rate, experts say.
“It’s obviously a complex issue,” says Dr. Rebecca Carlin, a pediatrician at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, in New York City. She is co-author of an editorial published with the CDC study in the journal Pediatrics.
Carlin says that while safe sleeping practices are critical to preventing SUID, there are also social and economic disparities at work.
For one, Black women in the United States are less likely to have access to early prenatal care, which, among other benefits, can reduce the risk of preterm birth. Preterm birth is a risk factor for SUID, Carlin notes.
Similarly, when Black families cannot get to routine pediatrician visits, they may not learn about safe sleep practices.
Meanwhile, Carlin says, many Black moms lack paid maternity leave from their jobs. That means they have to rely on other caregivers, who may not always know how to put infants to sleep safely. Plus, those same moms may find it impossible to breastfeed — which helps lower the risk of SUID.
The pandemic only worsened the situation, Parks and Carlin add.
“We know the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation efforts — such as stay-at-home orders — disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minority communities,” according to Parks.
On top of having even more difficulty accessing health care, she says, people of color suffered more job losses, and stress over paying the rent and buying food. Some people lost their homes, and may have moved in with family or friends.
“These factors may have led to more unsafe sleep practices like bed-sharing, thereby increasing the occurrence of SIDS and