About SUDC

Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) is a category of death in children between the ages of 1 and 18 that remains unexplained after a thorough investigation, including an autopsy. Most often, a seemingly healthy child goes to sleep and never wakes up.

At this time, we do not know what causes SUDC, how to predict it or how to prevent it.

A medical examiner or coroner could rule a child’s death SUDC when s/he completes a thorough evaluation and finds no other cause of death. SUDC is believed to be rare; occurring in about one in every 100,000 children.

Every year, at least 400 children are lost to SUDC. It is most common in young children and is the 5th leading category of death among children between the ages of 1 and 4.

Learn more at sudc.org