Finding into death of Baby J
Deceased
Baby J
Demographics
0y, unknown
Date of death
2010-07-06
Finding date
2012-07-06
Cause of death
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS Category 2)
AI-generated summary
Baby J, a 5-month-old infant with recent bronchiolitis diagnosis, died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS Category 2) while sharing a bed with his mother. The infant was propped on a pillow on his side in a bed with multiple blankets and pillows. The coroner's investigation examined shared sleep surfaces as a risk factor for infant death. Key clinical lessons include: room-sharing (separate surfaces) reduces SIDS risk by 50%, while bed-sharing increases fatal sleep accident risk, particularly with infants under 4 months, pillows, multiple blankets, and other vulnerability factors. The coroner emphasised consistent, evidence-based safe sleeping messaging across all healthcare contacts prenatally and postnatally, avoiding shared sleep surfaces in the first 6-12 months of life, and placing infants supine on firm mattresses without soft bedding.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- Shared sleep surface with adult
- Placement on pillow
- Side sleeping position
- Multiple blankets and bedding in sleep environment
- Recent bronchiolitis infection
- Infant age 5 months
Coroner's recommendations
- Department of Health and Department of Education and Early Childhood Development align public health advice on sharing sleep surfaces with infants to SIDSandKids Information Statement, including revised Infant Safe Sleeping Policy with advice on safe sleep practices and risks of fatal sleep accidents and SIDS
- Deliver consistent public health and health promotion advice on safe infant sleep practices at developmental milestones: antenatal period (by 36 weeks gestation), postnatal hospital period, first Maternal and Child Health Service home visit, completion of Safe Sleeping Checklist, and subsequent MCH nurse visits
Full text
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —