Baby died after being in bed with parents

His mother Kelly Anne Wright had no idea her husband Scott had brought their five-week-old son into bed after an early morning feed. But two hours later she discovered Aaron face down in the bed under the duvet, bleeding from his nose and mouth.

Paramedics battled to save the child but he died after arriving at hospital, an inquest in Rotherham was told.

A pathologist warned parents of the dangers of taking small babies to sleep in bed with them.

Dr Marta Cohen said Aaron was a normal baby who was well cared for and he had died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

She said: “The cause of death is linked to the circumstances of his last sleep and other factors of sudden infant death which were his age and the fact he was a male.

“It is more common in children sleeping with adults and it is also important that the room is not too warm.”

She said research at Sheffield Children’s Hospital indicated that 80 per cent of SIDS cases involved children sleeping in the same bed as one or more adults.

Mr Wright told the hearing that he had brought his son into bed and positioned him using pillows after he struggled to settle down after a feed at around 4.30 am. But his wife did not realise that Aaron was in bed with them.

She told the inquest she had picked up Aaron and rushed him to her parents’ house next door to the family home in Herringthorpe, Rotherham, where paramedics were called.

Mrs Wright said she was aware of the potential dangers of co-sleeping with babies but admitted that she and her husband had previously shared a bed with their two older children.

Mr Wright said : “I wasn’t aware of the dangers of co-sleeping. We had slept with our other children in the same bed in the past. Aaron had not been in bed with us before, though.”

Rotherham Deputy Coroner Fred Curtis recorded a verdict of death from natural causes.