Coroners in most states across America rarely diagnose that infants die from accidental asphyxiation, although a small but growing number report that is really the cause most of the time. The following is a state-by-state breakdown of how 20,195 infant deaths were diagnosed from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2004. The percentages show the proportion of infant deaths that were declared to be the result of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, of "undetermined" causes or actually of accidental suffocation because adults co-sleep with infants or babies are placed in unsafe beds.

Due to rounding error, all figures may not add up to exactly 100 percent.

	State ......... SIDS .. Unknown .. Suffocation
	
	Alabama ........... 36% ... 53% ... 11%
	Alaska ............ 59 ..... 4 .... 37
	Arizona ........... 51 .... 36 .... 14
	Arkansas .......... 44 .... 43 .... 13
	California ........ 40 .... 55 ..... 5
	Colorado .......... 73 .... 18 ..... 9
	Connecticut ....... 76 .... 17 ..... 7
	Delaware .......... 78 .... 14 ..... 8
	D.C................ 35 .... 63 ..... 2
	Florida ........... 41 .... 36 .... 23
	Georgia ........... 78 .... 10 .... 12
	Hawaii ............ 56 .... 22 .... 22
	Idaho ............. 75 .... 17 ..... 8
	Illinois .......... 50 .... 30 .... 19
	Indiana ........... 51 .... 16 .... 33
	Iowa .............. 79 .... 14 ..... 7
	Kansas ............ 76 .... 12 .... 12
	Kentucky .......... 56 .... 26 .... 18
	Louisiana ......... 63 .... 19 .... 17
	Maine ............. 71 .... 24 ..... 5
	Maryland .......... 87 ..... 4 .... 10
	Massachusetts ..... 66 .... 28 ..... 6
	Michigan .......... 57 ..... 7 .... 36
	Minnesota ......... 60 .... 13 .... 28
	Mississippi ....... 87 ..... 6 ..... 6
	Missouri .......... 59 .... 15 .... 26
	Montana ........... 60 .... 33 ..... 6
	Nebraska .......... 88 ..... 8 ..... 5
	Nevada ............ 51 .... 23 .... 26
	New Hampshire ..... 56 .... 29 .... 14
	New Jersey ........ 62 .... 32 ..... 7
	New Mexico ........ 54 .... 39 ..... 7
	New York .......... 23 .... 72 ..... 5
	North Carolina .... 70 .... 18 .... 12
	North Dakota ...... 92 ..... 5 ..... 3
	Ohio .............. 49 .... 34 .... 17
	Oklahoma .......... 57 .... 35 ..... 7
	Oregon ............ 70 .... 13 .... 17
	Pennsylvania ...... 60 .... 31 ..... 8
	Rhode Island ...... 48 .... 28 .... 25
	South Carolina .... 51 .... 28 .... 21
	South Dakota ...... 70 .... 15 .... 15
	Tennessee ......... 70 .... 15 .... 15
	Texas ............. 55 .... 34 .... 11
	Utah .............. 47 .... 38 .... 15
	Vermont ........... 70 .... 25 ..... 5
	Virginia .......... 71 .... 19 .....10
	Washington ........ 76 .... 11 .... 13
	West Virginia ..... 73 .... 21 ..... 6
	Wisconsin ......... 76 ..... 7 .... 17
	Wyoming ........... 67 ..... 3 .... 30
	U.S. Average ...... 57 .... 29 .... 14
	

(Source: Scripps Howard News Service study of infant death data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)