Baby Dies After Mum Did This

A three-month-old baby died after being left in a bouncer for several hours when her mum fell asleep, an inquest has heard.

Danielle Jones woke at 4.30 am to find that baby Leia-Mai Smith was not breathing and her lips were blue.

She had laid down on the sofa earlier the previous day after returning home from buying Father’s Day presents.

The mum had cuddled one of her other children and Leia-Mai fell asleep in the baby bouncer.

The inquest in Gloucester was told that a warning on the baby bouncer said children should not be left in it unattended.

Since the tragedy the manufacturers’ guidance has changed and parents are now warned that baby bouncers are ‘not intended for long periods of sleeping.’

In a statement to the inquest the baby’s mum said: “I woke up at around 4.30am and saw that Leia-Mai was not breathing and her lips had turned blue. I took her out of the swing, gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and dialled 999. When the paramedics arrived I pleaded with them to get my baby to breathe. It all seemed so unreal, like a bad dream, and I thought I would suddenly wake up and it would all be okay. I love my children dearly and live every day with this pain. She may just have been a baby but she was my baby.”

Senior Coroner for Gloucestershire Katy Skerrett said: “Leia-Mai was placed in the baby swing for a number of hours and it is an unusual place to sleep. It was an unusual sleeping arrangement and there was a label on the baby swing which warned parents not to leave the child unattended. More recent baby swings carry a different warning which says that they are not intended for long periods of sleeping.”

Pathologist Dr Thomas Martin said: “There was no evidence of hypoxia although cot death is a possibility. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome was investigated but we cannot prove that this was a cause of death.”

He found no sign of any infection and although the baby had a DNA abnormality he did not think that played a part, he said.

There are features of hypoxia present but also sudden infant death syndrome remains a possible cause.”

Source: Mirror