Baby dies after mum falls asleep breastfeeding

An inquest yesterday heard how Henry Whitehouse died when his mum fell asleep with him on the sofa after 'drinking two glasses of wine' at their Northhampton home.

Dawn Goodacre woke in the morning to find him lifeless, and tragically paramedics were unable to revive him.

In a witness statement read to the inquest, the 33-year-old mother-of-five told the court:

"That evening was a typical Friday night. I had a bath and a glass of wine. Occasionally I would sleep on the sofa because Kieron had to work.

"I fed Henry at 11pm and changed his wet nappy. I put him in his bouncy chair and went outside for a cigarette then had a cuddle with him on the sofa and went to sleep.

"I lay with him with a cushion against my head on the right hand side and Henry lay on the left side with his head tucked into my shoulder and I fell asleep at 1am.

"In the night I woke up to feed him. I drank some water and had a cigarette and went back to sleep.

"I changed his nappy at about 6am. The TV was on and my other children were in the lounge.

"I was woken up again at about 9.30 by two of my other children. When I went to kiss Henry on the head I noticed his temperature wasn't right and realised something was wrong. I screamed at Kieron to call an ambulance."

Pathologist Roger Malcolmson told the inquest Henry's death could not necessarily be attributed to co-sleeping, explaining that the youngster had a haemorrhage on his face, lungs, kidney and heart- but added that these injuries did not suggest 'physical abuse or neglect'.

Coroner Ms Pember recorded an open verdict of 'an unascertained unexpected sudden death in infancy', but warned parents against the risks of co-sleeping.

"I think it behoves me to inform the public that to sleep with a baby is an unsafe sleeping environment whether it's in a bed or a sofa.

"The public should be aware of the dangers of a young baby co-sleeping with a parent - it is not a safe environment", she said.

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