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SINGAPORE – After placing a three-month-old baby prone on an adult bed to help him sleep, his mother fell asleep next to him.
Hours later, however, the 31-year-old woman woke up to find that the baby had stopped breathing and had a blue face. Although the mother performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her son, unfortunately the baby was pronounced dead that same day, February 6, 2018.
State Coroner (SC) Kamala Ponnampalam issued an open verdict on the baby’s death on Thursday (September 3), as the cause of death could not be determined. The woman is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for wrongful death that does not amount to murder. Convicted on November 4 of last year, the woman was found responsible for the death of her two-year-old daughter – she had thrown the girl to the ground – on April 9, 2018, about two months after the death of her baby.
In the current case, while the autopsy report showed no evidence of suffocation, the cause could not be ruled out. The CS also did not rule out overlap, which is when a larger person lies on top of a small person, resulting in the latter’s death. No lesions were found that suggested overlapping as a cause of death, said the SC, which also did not rule out natural disease as a cause.
There were no drugs or substances involved in the baby’s death.
“The death (of the baby) highlights the potential dangers associated with placing a baby in a tummy-down sleeping position or even sleeping with the baby in an adult bed (and) parents and caregivers should be aware that certain decisions about how they position the baby to sleep increases the risk of the baby suffering serious injury or death, ”said the SC.
These factors, along with the mother’s fatigue, exponentially increased the risk of the baby suffering an injury, said the SC, who advised mothers to seek help when they need it.
According to the SC, three of the woman’s children, including the baby, have died. In addition to the two-year-old girl, a four-month-old son died of natural causes on November 29, 2011.
The woman’s surviving child is about 10 years old.
Baby placed in the prone position
The baby was born prematurely at the end of 2017 and was admitted to the hospital for medical problems, including diarrhea, in January 2018. He was discharged in the same month.
On February 6, 2018, the woman’s husband left to send the couple’s oldest son to school before heading to work in the morning, leaving the woman with her two-year-old daughter and baby at home.
You gave the baby milk before he fell asleep. Since her daughter was also asleep, the woman decided to take a nap as she was exhausted. She slept in bed next to her baby. After a while, she heard the boy cry. After trying unsuccessfully to pat the baby to sleep, she placed him on his stomach with a pillow to support his body and turned his head sideways on the pillow.
According to the woman, the position was comfortable for the baby and made him fall asleep quickly. The baby fell asleep shortly after, and so did her mother.
At approximately 2 in the afternoon, the woman woke up to see her son still in the same position, but with the pillow she was no longer supporting his body. She saw that her face was against the pillow and put her in a supine position, lying on her back with her face and torso up. She noticed that her face had turned blue with blood and mucus in her mouth.
She took the baby into the living room, where she called an ambulance and was instructed to perform CPR. Later the paramedics arrived and took over the process. They observed that the baby’s lips and finger were blue and that there was no pulse.
When they placed a pad on his chest and back, the baby’s electrical heart rate showed a flat line. He was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4.13 in the afternoon.
According to the husband, he was happy with the marriage and did not witness any abuse of the children. He told the court that his wife slept late every night due to housework.
A medical report revealed that although the baby was born prematurely and needed support, he was found to be thriving without abnormalities during follow-up medical appointments. However, his mother had missed a counseling appointment in November 2017 and a vision check for her son in December of the same year.
A psychiatric evaluation of the mother, conducted while she was in custody for the death of her two-year-old daughter, revealed that the mother had a major depressive disorder with a history of substance and alcohol abuse. She had the disease before and after the baby’s death.
She indicated that after the baby was discharged in January, the diarrhea persisted for two days and she was exhausted from taking care of him and her daughter. She showed signs of forgetfulness and was frustrated by the baby’s crying. She also had trouble sleeping and a poor appetite, as well as a bad mood.
Woman who killed her 2-year-old daughter by throwing her to the ground twice imprisoned 7 years
