Sudden, unexplained deaths rose unexpectedly for Black infants, research finds

Despite a record low infant mortality rate in 2020, a new study finds an unexpected jump in unexplained deaths in Black infants during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

The rate of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, increased by 15% in a single year, from 33.3 deaths per 100,000 babies born in 2019 to 38.2 such deaths in 2020, according to the research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics.

SIDS is a well-known term, and it is used in cases in which the cause of death cannot be definitively explained. It is not used when a child is found to have accidentally been suffocated by a pillow cushion, for example.

In data collection, both SIDS and incidents of accidental suffocation or strangulation fall under the umbrella term SUID, or sudden unexplained infant death.

For more on this report, go to NBC News.