Sleeping mum smothers baby on jet

Shocked to read the news below cos I b/f all the time in half-awake state! But i think this is really rare. Never heard of this before! but very sad indeed for the mommy, who must be a really deep sleeper or, i suspect, might have taken some kind of medication that knocked her out soundly. SAD!

But on the point of co-sleeping, there's still lots of debate raging over how safe it is for babies. I have been co-sleeping with Val from the time he was days old, cos i am a very light sleeper. Mothering Magazine has lots of resources on co-sleeping for anyone keen to learn more.


AP News:

Sleeping mum smothers baby on jet
She fell asleep while breast-feeding; doc on board failed to revive infant

LONDON: A breast-feeding mother accidentally smothered her four-week old child aboard a United Airlines flight from Washington DC to Kuwait, a British tabloid has reported.

The Sun newspaper said that the mother, who it said was a 29-year-old Egyptian-born woman, fell asleep as she breast-fed on the jet and awoke after about an hour to find that she had accidentally suffocated the baby.

Crew on the jet were alerted by the mother's screams and the flight, which was over the Atlantic, was diverted to Heathrow Airport for an immediate landing, the paper reported on Tuesday.

Scotland Yard confirmed that a United Airlines plane had been diverted to Heathrow after reports that a four-week-old girl was in distress. The incident occurred last Wednesday.

The police said in a statement that the baby was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. It added that an autopsy had been performed last Friday, but the results were still pending.

'The death is being treated as unexplained and the Child Abuse Investigation Team is investigating the circumstances,' the statement said.

Scotland Yard did not go into further detail, although Britain's Press Association news agency reported that such investigations were standard practice. No arrests have been made.

A police source told The Sun: 'This appears to be a tragic accident. The girl comes from a loving family. Her mum was going to Kuwait to show her to relatives.'

United Airlines spokesman Robin Urbanski said that a doctor aboard the flight tried unsuccessfully to revive the baby while the plane was still in the air.

The ground authorities later took over. Ms Urbanski said she had no information about what happened to the passenger after that, although the flight later proceeded to Kuwait.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has warned that sharing a bed or sleeping with an infant can be hazardous under certain conditions.

The British Association of Breastfeeding Mothers has said: 'Sitting up in bed while holding your baby is very dangerous, especially if you fall asleep.'