Newborn died while sleeping in same bed as parents

A TWO-day-old baby died while sleeping in the same bed as her parents, a coroner heard.

Ellie Rose Marie Williams was born on September 23 last year and returned with her mum, Kerry, to their home in Lon Cefn Du, Caernarfon.

North Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said the death of the baby had been reported and he had suggested Ms Williams need not attend the hearing and instead read out her statement.

Ms Williams said on September 24 the baby had slept and been fed as normal and this had continued the following day.

She had changed the baby’s nappy at about 8pm and had carried her upstairs in a Moses basket which was placed alongside the bed and nearest to Ms Williams.

At about 11pm Ms Williams heard the baby crying and began feeding her without problems and laid her down again.

But she was unsettled and she had placed the baby in the bed alongside her and her partner.

She fell asleep and woke up later to find the baby “floppy and unresponsive”.

Screaming at her partner to wake up and call an ambulance, Ms Williams said she was told how to administer cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) which she did until police and paramedics arrived.

The baby was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd where a heartbeat was detected but doctors warned Ms Williams and family members the prospects were not good.

She was later pronounced dead.

Pathologist Dr Mark Lord found no sign of any abnormality or natural disease and concluded she died of co-sleeping, a practice in which babies and young children sleep close to one or both parents, as opposed to in a separate bed.

Concluding that Ellie Rose’s death was an accident the coroner noted such incidents were far more common a generation ago.