Baby girl died in her dad’s arms - inquest
A BABY died in tragic circumstances as she was cradled in her father’s arms, an inquest heard.
One-month-old Cali Christopher had been slumbering contentedly on dad Alfie’s chest, but in a moment of horror he woke to find the helpless tot had stopped breathing.
In a panic he called for Cali’s mother, Sara Batley, to help him resuscitate the infant – known affectionately as ‘Piglet’ because her breathing was a bit ‘grunty’.
However, despite their best efforts and those of medics who quickly attended the scene in Hilltop Fold, Slaithwaite, it proved impossible to save her life.
And the court heard the cause of Cali’s death in the early hours of March 11 last year may never be fully understood.
A post mortem examination showed an abnormality in the part of the brain involved in the control of breathing and heart rate. Such an abnormality can predispose sudden death in infants.
Expert witness Dr Luiz Peres, consultant paediatric histopathologist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, explained to the grieving parents and her grandmother, Alex Christopher, that it was an extremely rare case and that the science behind her death “was still evolving”.
He said he and another doctor, Matthew Lyall, had explored every possible avenue regarding what might have caused Cali’s death and their efforts were commended by coroner Peter Merchant as they had left “no stone unturned.”
Dr Peres said: “Co-sleeping is a risk factor for sudden death but we can’t be sure if the lesions in the brain played any role or not. We can’t exclude it and we can’t confirm it.
“Some children die unexpectedly with these type of lesions even when they are sleeping on their own without any co-sleeping at all.
“But in this case there was cosleeping and that’s why we can’t point to the brain lesions as the trigger for this sad event.
“Researchers around the world are looking into it and there’s growing evidence that these lesions can be a trigger for sudden death.”
Dr Peres added: “Parents frequently blame themselves and question whether they did something wrong. This is traumatic. Every year in the UK about 60 babies die in similar conditions.
“We try very hard to find explanations but in some circumstances they remain unascertained.”
The court heard there was nothing untoward about Cali’s birth and although she suffered from a number of minor ailments, including a hernia and difficulties with her breathing for which she received appropriate medical treatment, there was nothing whatsoever to suggest her life was in danger.
And West Yorkshire Police officers confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances.
In his conclusion, Mr Merchant said: “There were no concerns for the care of Cali, nothing that could be said to contribute to her death.
“Although that might be some reassurance to her parents, I am sure that it will not wipe away the pain and distress caused by Cali’s death.”
Giving an open conclusion, he said: “While in some respects that is unsatisfactory and I am sure Cali’s parents would like to understand how Cali died, regrettably that is the situation.”
Accepting the formal cause of death as unascertained, he said the two factors to be considered were co-sleeping and brain abnormality.
He said: “There is no evidence that death was caused by natural disease, therefore the cause of death was unascertained.”
And he gave the doting parents Bradford Coroner’s Office’s very best wishes, saying: “You cared for Cali in the very best way that you could.”