Updated advice issued on risks of 'co-sleeping' with a baby

Tuesday 04 January 2022

The information given to parents over issues such as the risks associated with sleeping in the same bed as a young baby has been updated following a recent death.

An inquest heard how the exact cause of death was “unascertained,” but with “some evidence” suggesting it could have been related to what's known as 'co-sleeping.'

The child was found to be unresponsive by her mother, when she woke up in the morning with the baby in her arms. An ambulance took the baby to hospital but attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful.  

The inquest heard that the mother checked on her baby multiple times throughout the previous evening, and her last memory of the child was from the early hours of the morning, when the baby was in a cot. 

She told the Police that she had fallen asleep with the baby before, but not regularly.

A post-mortem examination report from Dr Russell Delaney declared the medical cause of death as "unascertained," saying there were no "diagnostic or pathological features to confirm" that co-sleeping was the cause.

On that basis, Deputy Viscount Advocate Mark Harris concluded that the “cause of death was unascertained", adding "however there is some evidence to suggest this was a co-sleeping related death.”

He expressed his condolences to the family and said how “very sorry” he was for their loss.

In a report from Family Nursing and Home Care penned by Safeguarding Lead Nurse for Adults & Children, Jennifer Querns, and read out during the inquest, she explained that information from the Lullaby Trust was provided to mothers and other parents about the risks associated with co-sleeping, among other things, during pregnancy.

However, since the baby's death, she said the information has been updated with new research.

In a general statement on the wider issue, provided by Family Nursing and Home Care after the inquest, they outlined that: "There are known risk factors which can be attributed to Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI). Babies under the age of one, (in particular babies aged from birth to 6 months) can be at increased risk.

"Some babies have unknown risk factors, which are called intrinsic risk factors, where to reduce the risk of SUDI, health professionals such as health visitors, midwives and GPs give research based information from the Lullaby Trust about safer sleep.

"On 16 July 2020, the UK Government published a report which reviewed SUDI. The review set out recommendations and findings for governments and local safeguarding partners to better protect infants from SUDI. The research confirmed that co-sleeping with a parent could increase the risk of SUDI.

"In particular the report found that co-sleeping in "out of the ordinary situations" could raise the risk further such as sleeping with a baby when they were unwell, sleeping somewhere other than at home, or when relatives come to stay, where sleeping arrangements change, or when parents attend/have a party, and may have drunk alcohol or used substances.

"The advice for parents at these times was to plan for a safe sleeping space for their baby, so that at each sleep their baby had a safe sleep space. The message was that every sleep matters as each child lost to SUDI is devastating for parents."

Family Nursing and Home Care have Health Visitor services available for all parents who have children under the age of 5 and School Nursing services are available for children up to the age of 19 - they can be contacted by calling 01534 443600.

You can find out more about 'safer sleep' by reading the information from the Lullaby Trust HERE.