A one-month-old infant died from suffocation while co-sleeping with her mother on a couch. The mother fell asleep while breastfeeding, with the baby positioned between her and the couch back. The death was completely preventable through adherence to safe sleep recommendations: infants should sleep on their backs in their own cot or bassinet, not bed-sharing with adults. Despite the family being otherwise well-supported with appropriate antenatal and postnatal care, and the child being healthy and thriving, this single unsafe sleep practice resulted in death. The coroner emphasised this was the third similar preventable death in Tasmania and noted repeated warnings from health organisations and previous coronial cases had not prevented this tragedy.
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Specialties
paediatricsforensic medicine
Clinical conditions
suffocationasphyxia
Contributing factors
Co-sleeping/bed sharing with mother on couch
Mother falling asleep while breastfeeding
Infant positioned between mother and couch back
Lack of adherence to safe sleep recommendations
Coroner's recommendations
Reminder to parents and carers of the importance of ensuring infants sleep safely by themselves in a cot or bassinet, night and day, and do not sleep in an adult bed, with adult bedding, or next to other family members in the same bed
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