Nursing Pillows Have Been Linked to At Least 162 Infant Deaths: Report

Nursing pillows have been linked to at least 162 infant deaths since 2007 — and the real number is estimated to be higher, according to a new NBC News report.

As part of its "Death by Delay" series on how some consumer product hazards have proved fatal, the news network said it determined how many of babies died in situations involving the widely-used pillows in the last 15-plus years based on internal federal data and hundreds of public records.

In most cases, the victims were less than 4 months old. The youngest was only 3 days old at the time of death.

The details of each death varied, but the analysis from NBC News says the infants' airways were constricted as some of them slumped down on the pillows or were arched leaning backward. Others were suffocated as their faces rolled over onto the pillows' surface.

In some cases, the cause of death was unclear but the nursing pillows were found near the unresponsive infants.

Most of the time, the brand of nursing pillow involved was not specified in reports, according to NBC News.

The horseshoe-shaped pillows, with about 1.34 million sold annually in the U.S., have been marketed as a must-have for parents, the outlet reported.

Manufacturers have said the pillows are safe if caregivers use them as designed to help cradle babies as they breast feed or are bottle fed.

Still, infants can stop breathing in minutes if they are left unattended in the pillows or are left to sleep on them, NBC News reported.

“You think, ‘Well, we wouldn’t be able to buy things that are potentially unsafe for our babies.’ But yet, we can,” Dr. Elizabeth Murray, of Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester, New York, told the outlet.

Although federal regulators have known about the potential hazards posed by the pillows for decades, the Consumer Product Safety Commission only began warning consumers in 2020 that the pillows are not safe for sleeping, according to NBC News.

In the coming weeks, the CPSC is expected to release a proposal outlining how to make the pillows safer.

CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric recently said at a conference the commission has identified more than 130 deaths connected to the pillows over the span of a decade, according to NBC News. That number does not include some of the deaths included in the NBC analysis.

“I’m very concerned, given the large number of deaths,” Hoehn-Saric told the network in a recent interview. “We need to move forward as quickly as possible.”

But manufacturers have mobilized to push back against the potential new regulations.

Two manufacturers, the Boppy Company and Snuggle Me Organic, are among the funders of the Breastfeeding Infant Development Support Alliance, a lobbying and PR effort formed last year, according to NBC News.

The organization has garnered support from health professionals, small businesses and nonprofit groups and is positioning itself as helping to advance a feminist cause, the network reported.

“Women’s rights are being gutted — and the ability for women and parents to choose how they feed their baby is next on the chopping block,” the alliance's website says.

In a May press release, the coalition alleged the CPSC "may be choosing to ignore more than 30 years of history, facts and medical guidance to impose the will of government over the needs of mothers."

The group said in a statement to NBC News if the CPSC requires design changes that force products to be pulled off the market, that could result in a "negative impact on breastfeeding" and could prompt some caregivers to create makeshift solutions that are dangerous.

Instead of requiring changes, the commission should “invest in an extensive campaign to educate consumers on safe sleep practices," the coalition said, adding regulators should also defer to voluntary safety standards that are in the works.

“As a member of BFIDSA, we support their position and responses to your questions," Boppy told NBC News when asked for comment.

Snuggle Me did not respond to the network's request.

The Messenger has reached out to both companies for comment.