Arguably, any death is a tragedy.
But perhaps most of all is an infant’s death.
A human being of purity and innocence who barely had a chance to live.
What about an infant’s death by your own hands?
Nothing could possibly compare to that.
Unfortunately, that was the tragedy that a mother had to bear in September last year.
“Unintentional Suffocation” While Breastfeeding
Nor Eilshan Emran Muhammad Nor Aszroy was a baby boy who was born in KK Women and Children’s Hospital (KKH) on 17 August 2018.
He was brought to his maternal grandparents’ house in Sengkang by his mother after they were discharged from KKH on 20 August.
The mother, who remains unnamed, was breastfeeding Nor Eilshan in the “side-lying” method one night.
However, she apparently dozed off after a while and was only awoken 1.5 hours later by her husband at 3am when he got up to use the toilet.
She felt “something wet” and asked her husband to turn on the lights while she lifted the baby.
To her horror, she found Nor Eilshan unconscious with vomit and bloodstains on his swaddling cloth.
He was rushed to Sengkang General Hospital but was pronounced dead at 5am.
After investigations, the state coroner has ruled out foul play and believed this to be a purely unintentional incident.
Science of Breastfeeding
Before you start blaming the mother for dozing off, note that it is common for mothers to feel sleepy when breastfeeding due to the release of oxytocin, which relaxes them.
This was a tragedy where no one can really be blamed. However, there are always lessons to be learnt.
To prevent this, Ms Teo Puay Ling, a senior nurse at KKH does not recommend the “side-lying” method that the mother employed to avoid such incidents during breastfeeding.
Apparently, the mother had refused offers from the nurses to give her breastfeeding lessons due to having prior experience with her then 17-month-old daughter.
According to Ms Teo, there are two recommended breastfeeding positions.
One is the “football hold” where the baby is tucked underneath the mother’s arm.
The other is the “modified cradle hold”, where the baby is held in the crook of the arm opposite the breast he is feeding from.
It is also noted by forensic pathologist Dr Belinda Lee that an infant can easily suffocate if their breathing is obstructed by various bedding materials when sleeping together with their parents.
Let’s not point fingers at anyone and all learn from this incident so that further tragedies can be prevented.
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