A THREE-MONTH-OLD baby girl was found unresponsive when her mum accidentally fell asleep during an early morning breastfeed.
85-days-old Collette Hill, known as Lettie, was found unresponsive under her mother’s breast in the early hours of the morning before an ambulance rushed to the scene.
The tot had just woken up crying at 2am one morning in July 2018 in her parents’ flat in Plymouth, Devon.
An inquest at Plymouth Coroner’s Court showed that Collette was “found unresponsive under the mother’s breast on a sofa” before an ambulance was called and she was rushed to Derriford Hospital.
Collette’s mum, Holly Dalton could not recall how she got there or if she had been feeding her, but this mom acknowledged she had previously fallen asleep while feeding Collette. The tearful mum said in an interview that she was “half-drowsy” with her t-shirt off, and must have fallen asleep with the baby beside her – but when she woke up she could not feel her baby suckling.
The inquest showed that a post mor.te.m could not ascertain the exact reason but said that “accidental smothering during breast feeding during the early hours should be considered”.
According to the coroner, the baby had weight problems before and after birth and needed three hourly feeds to gain weight.
Another possibility is the child may have suffered acute airway obstruction by the soft breast tissue as she was found under her mother’s breast, the inquest heard.
Senior south Devon and Plymouth coroner Ian Arrow was also told that the baby’s mum had smoked “a couple of spli*ffs” the night before and taken some Tramadol painkillers.
The baby had ingested a small amount of the Tramadol through the breastfeeding but there was “no effective d*rugs of a*buse” in her system.
The baby’s mother and dad Adam Hill was arrested for further investigation. Adam also confessed to smoking can*na*bis and confirmed that the baby had been asleep on mum Holly – and was woken by a “thump” when Lettie fell on the floor.
This is also a lesson for every parent about a strong risk of co-sleeping with a child.
Source: The Sun
