Don't sleep alongside baby, parents waned

Published on Tuesday 28 April 2009 22:59

PARENTS were warned yesterday by a leading cot death charity not to risk their baby's life by sleeping alongside them.

The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) issued the warning after several reports that a high proportion of babies who died were sharing a bed or sofa with a sleeping parent.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) described the blanket advice as "unhelpful" and instead urged parents to talk to their midwife for expert guidance.

FSID's warning came after pathologists told the charity high numbers of babies who died unexpectedly had been sleeping with a parent.

Dr Marta Cohen, a paediatric pathologist at Sheffield Children's Hospital, said of 50 cases she studied between 2004 and 2007, 31 babies (62 per cent) were sharing a bed or sofa with a parent.

Dr Chris Wright, a consultant perinatal pathologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, said of 15 cases of unexpected death in infants between 2008 and 2009, seven were found in the parental bed and two had died on a sofa.

The charity said it was especially dangerous for a baby to sleep in a parent's bed if he or she was a smoker, had drunk alcohol, was very tired or had taken medication that made them drowsy.

FSID director Joyce Epstein said: "If you smoke at all or you've drunk alcohol, you really must protect your baby and put them in their cot to sleep.

"May 2009 is FSID's Save a Baby Month, and because of our experience, we recognise the urgent need to raise awareness of the dangers associated with bed- or sofa-sharing with your baby."

Cathy Warwick, general secretary of the RCM, said: "

The situation around co-sleeping is complex, and blanket advice to avoid it is perhaps unhelpful to parents who may want to do it.

"A number of factors need to be considered by parents before and if they do this, and they need to discuss this with their midwife to make an individual and informed decision."