Newborn Baby In S’pore Suffocated After Co-sleeping With Parents For First Time

Imagine placing your newborn baby down on a bed and returning shortly after, only to find out that your baby had stopped breathing.

Unfortunately, this was what happened to the 19-day-old baby who suffocated to death after the mother put him down on the bed for the first time beside her husband.

What Happened Before The Incident 

According to TODAYOnline, on the evening of 8 June 2018, the baby’s father had told his wife to sleep with their older child as he needed to do some work.

Usually, he would sleep in the master bedroom with their older child in a cot and his wife would sleep in the living room of their Chai Chee flat with the newborn.

After working through the night in the living room, he went to sleep in the master bedroom at about 6.30am when the baby was still asleep in his playpen.

Wife Did Not Want To Leave Baby Alone 

After about half an hour, his wife picked up the baby and placed him on his back beside his father on the bed in the master bedroom for the first time.

Before the mother left to bath her older child, she tapped her husband to tell him that the baby was beside him and that he should watch out for him.

However, the father later told the court that he was too tired and did not hear what she said.

She said in the court hearings that she had placed the baby on the bed because she did not want to leave him alone after he had been fed, as he was prone to spitting and vomiting.

Husband Performed CPR On Baby

The baby’s mother returned to the room at around 8.45am, when she saw a pillow on top of her child, covering the upper half of his body.

The baby was pale.

She woke her husband up, who carried the baby to the diaper changing room.

Realising that he was not breathing, he started performing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the baby was later taken to Changi General Hospital (CGH) by ambulance.

Pronounced Dead At KKH 

The baby was intubated at CGH and regained spontaneous circulation at about 9.45am.

After he was transferred to KKH, he was assessed to be unresponsive with fixed and dilated pupils. There was neither movement nor spontaneous breaths while he was on the ventilator.

He was pronounced dead at about 2.30am on 10 June.

The cause of the baby’s death was global hypoxia due to suffocation, with oxygen deprivation leading to circulatory collapse.

Risk Of Suffocation Resulting From Co-Sleeping With One’s Infant 

State Coroner Kamala Ponnamplama said in her findings that this case was yet another unfortunate example of the “increased risk of inadvertent suffocation resulting from co-sleeping with one’s infant, for however brief a time”.

In 2017, a 36-day-old baby also died, after co-sleeping with her parents the night before.

“Parents need to be vigilant and observe safe sleeping habits at all times,” she said.

KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital regularly advises parents not to co-sleep with their babies to avoid suffocation.

Minimising Risks Involved In Bed-Sharing 

While there has been a heavy debate in parents forums online about the pros and cons of co-sleeping with newborns, local paediatricians that  The Straits Times have spoken to said infants should not share a bed with parents as the risks outweigh the benefits.

However, for parents who choose to sleep with their baby, should get a firm mattress and makes sure the infant is not overdressed. Pillows, comforters and soft items should be removed from the bed as the babies might not be able to roll and push items away.

The coroner has ruled the baby’s death as an unfortunate misadventure with no foul play.

Let’s extend our condolences to the family of the baby in this difficult time.