Stark warning to breastfeeding mums

Breastfeeding mothers have been warned not to drink alcohol after a two-month old baby girl died with six times the legal blood alcohol limit in her system.

A coroner’s report into the death of two-month-old Sapphire Williams in Ahipara, New Zealand, on January 2, 2017, did not ascertain a direct cause of death, but found alcohol intoxication and a dangerous sleeping environment were factors.

Sapphire’s mother said she drank a whole box of 18 bourbon and cokes at a cousin’s house the day before, and the blood from the baby’s heart was found to have 308 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood - six times the legal limit for an adult driver.

The results stunned toxicologists who performed a second

test to ensure accuracy, but the readings were the same, New Zealand Herald reported.

Coroner Debra Bell said there were a number of significant contributors to Sapphire’s death, which could have been prevented.

‘Unfortunately, her mother chose to drink a large quantity of alcohol and subsequently at a later stage chose to breastfeed her,’ Bell said.

‘[The mother] accepts the alcohol in Sapphire’s blood must have come from her consumption of alcohol. Sapphire’s mother’s actions highlight what has been well documented; alcohol can pass to a child via breast milk.’

Police found there were no suspicious or untoward circumstances after attending the scene, where the family of nine were staying.

A post-mortem found that the possible causes of death included acute alcohol intoxication, dangerous sleeping environment, prematurity, possible septicaemia, and

suffocation.