Sleep Position in District of Columbia
District of Columbia
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District of Columbia Value:
78.3%
Percentage of women with a recent live birth who reported their infants are usually placed on their backs to sleep
Sleep Position in depth:
Appears In:
Sleep Position by State
Percentage of women with a recent live birth who reported their infants are usually placed on their backs to sleep
Sleep Position in
Data from CDC, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System or state equivalent, 2022
>= 88.7%
86.0% - 88.6%
84.4% - 85.9%
82.8% - 84.3%
<= 82.7%
No Data
Sleep Position
- CDC, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System or state equivalent, 2022
About Sleep Position
Top State(s): Vermont: 90.5%
Bottom State(s): New York: 74.8%
Definition: Percentage of women with a recent live birth who reported their infants are usually placed on their backs to sleep
Data Source and Years(s): CDC, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System or state equivalent, 2022
Suggested Citation: America's Health Rankings analysis of CDC, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System or state equivalent, United Health Foundation, AmericasHealthRankings.org, accessed 2024.
Placing a baby to sleep on their back is the most effective action for reducing a baby’s risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Stomach sleeping among infants increases the risk of overheating, carbon dioxide buildup or insufficient oxygen in the blood.
Every year, approximately 3,400 infant deaths are reported in the United States as a result of sleep-related problems.
Parents and caregivers at a disproportionate risk for not placing an infant to sleep on their backs include:
- Those with a high school education or less compared with those with higher levels of education.
- Those who lack health insurance or have Medicaid compared with those with private insurance.
- Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic women compared with white women.
- Those who did not participate in WIC during pregnancy compared with those who did.
- Those who were not told by their provider that supine — lying flat on one’s back — is the only safe sleep position for their infant, or who were told something different. Caregivers who received correct advice from their providers were 28% more likely to place their babies to sleep on their backs.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently updated guidelines for reducing sleep-related infant deaths, including:
- Placing infants on their backs for sleep on a firm, flat surface until 12 months of age unless the infant has a medical reason to sleep in a different position.
- Removing soft objects, loose bedding and crib bumpers from the infant's sleeping area.
- Sleeping in the same room as the infant, but not in the same bed.
- Watching for signs of overheating and avoiding overdressing infants or covering their heads.
Increasing new and expecting parents’ knowledge of the recommended guidelines is crucial to keeping infants safe during sleep.
Healthy People 2030 has an objective to increase the percentage of infants put to sleep on their backs.
Hirai, Ashley H., Katherine Kortsmit, Lorena Kaplan, Erin Reiney, Lee Warner, Sharyn E. Parks, Maureen Perkins, Marion Koso-Thomas, Denise V. D’Angelo, and Carrie K. Shapiro-Mendoza. “Prevalence and Factors Associated With Safe Infant Sleep Practices.” Pediatrics 144, no. 5 (November 1, 2019): e20191286. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-1286.
Moon, Rachel Y., Rebecca F. Carlin, and Ivan Hand. “Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2022 Recommendations for Reducing Infant Deaths in the Sleep Environment.” Pediatrics 150, no. 1 (July 1, 2022): e2022057990. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-057990.
Von Kohorn, Isabelle, Michael J. Corwin, Denis V. Rybin, Timothy C. Heeren, George Lister, and Eve R. Colson. “Influence of Prior Advice and Beliefs of Mothers on Infant Sleep Position.” Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 164, no. 4 (April 1, 2010). https://doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.26.
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