Irresponsible and unhelpful article about baby’s death?

I agree it probably has triggered concerns in mums to be or new mothers, because it implies mothers should get up intermittently through the night to check on a sleeping baby, when that’s not necessarily needed. Unless baby misses a wake up during a previously regular feeding routine. But this situation was around the mother being so drunk, she was incapable of caring for the baby. I remember when mine slept through the night for the first time. I woke in a blind panic, only to find her fast asleep with not a care. I think it’s all around context OP. There was a lot of background info on this case.

Well, the smoking was mentioned as it meant she left the house frequently, not just the room. Though she wasn't in the room either anyway. Obviously a 5m old didn't get hold of tobacco.

It's not really our business what the baby died of.

As for your actual "aibu" question, yes, you are being very unreasonable.

They are risk factors and SIDS is SUDDEN Infant Death Syndrome.

They baby didn't SUDDENLY die.

The mother "failed to recognise a deterioration" in her baby's health over a number of hours. Specifically between 6-9am, which you would reasonably expect her to be awake, especially with a 6 year old in the house and under her care.

The report was thar the baby failed to wake as usual for a feed between 4:30-6:30 and the mum failed to notice a deterioration in the baby's health between 6-9am.

Whether that's because she was asleep due to alcohol or chose not to check on her daughter, we will never know. But she didn't satisfactorily check on her baby during this period (or at all for over 14 hours) and it was because she was impaired by alcohol which was neglectful. There's nothing to be learned beyond following safe sleep and health advice and not being reckless with your child's life.

To get a different perspective, no sensible person would knowingly leave their baby with her to be cared for like that and would want a prosecution.

Reading between the lines, this sounds like it was believed that she caused the death but they didn't have the evidence to prove it.

Op, you’re focusing your attention on this particular article in a way that comes off disturbing. If you don’t know any signs of what seems off for your baby, you should research this and discuss with a medical professional. But your comments on this case do make it seem like you’re excusing mum and blaming the journalist!

I don’t think it is.

to be convicted of child cruelty you have to behave in a way likely to cause 'unnecessary suffering or injury’.

the baby obviously and tragically died but did the mothers behaviour cause the suffering or injury?

The implication is that the baby was seriously ill for a period of time and that the mother would have noticed had she been sober. But it’s certainly not clear what happened and there don’t think it’s unreasonable to want to put the pieces together, especially because the facts don’t seem to align with SIDs which would be the leading cause of death in young babies

I think I know what you mean OP. If I had a newborn this would be causing me a lot of anxiety. I'd be thinking do I need to set my alarm every hour to check baby through the night, do I need to wake them up every few hours to check they're responsive? I went by the rule of baby will wake when they're hungry. With the exhaustion of having a newborn would I sleep for hours if the baby didn't wake me and potentially miss an opportunity to save their life? I was already terrified of SIDS when I had a baby, I imagine if I read this when I had a baby I wouldn't be getting much sleep at all. That's what makes it irresponsible, it causes fear in women who are already experiencing a lot of anxiety.

She also put her to sleep in an unsafe manner, for which every mother receives clear guidance. And then failed to check properly on that unsafe sleeping, from another room, or feed her very young baby. Because she was heavily intoxicated.

In court, it was heard that while pathologist evidence could not establish the direct cause of Rhian’s death, Birks’ consumption of alcohol meant that she neglected her duty of care and put her needs before the needs of her daughter.

Yes, I think the sofa rather than a cot played a major factor here. Sadly though some people assume because it’s flat it’s safe, that baby isn’t rolling yet so won’t fall off. Or they wedge baby in with cushions and make it worse. Baby would actually have been safer on the floor!

@CameForAVacationStayedForTheRevolution

I think the majority of sofa deaths are exhausted new parents who've fallen asleep accidentally when holding a baby rather than a drunk mother intentionally leaving a baby on a sofa overnight.

Very different situations and nothing to do with class.

5month old asleep on a sofa, I wouldn't even leave the room. At that age they'll either roll off and hit their head or roll the other way and suffocate themselves. Leaving a 5 month old on a sofa for 14hours is pretty much a planned death in my eyes.

When Dd (over 20 years ago) was a baby she slept in her own room, if she hadn’t woken for a feed in the night I’d have slept through. I do actually know someone who on waking naturally at 9am ran to her baby’s room and found her dead in the cot. Someone could be in this position these days, have had a drink the night before….do they get prosecuted? Because the alcohol is probably irrelevant, if you’re asleep then you’re asleep. You assume the baby will wake at some point and cry and wake you up but if they don’t then you sleep through. You don’t set an alarm to check them.

Your title is inflammatory though. The article has been written to advise of the court findings, not to soothe new and worried parents about the possibility of finding their baby has died. If you want to find out about that, there are other more appropriate sources of up to date information than an article reporting on a court case.

It's shocking how some parents prioritise getting rat arsed over their helpless infants' safety and well being. That baby had died long before her feckless mother chose to check on her. I can't imagine having that degree of disassociation over my baby, I really can't. And for you OP, this wouldn't be you either, as you are interested in warning signs about infants' deteriorating health and seem genuinely concerned about how that might apply to your baby.

This article isn't the place to find it though, that's not its purpose. It's just reporting the bare facts of the case.

OP, none of us are medical professionals but still we usually see if our baby needs help (if we are not too intoxicated). An unresponsive baby, for example, is an emergency and surely you’d react accordingly by common sense.

I think a lot of the anger about the neglectful mum is being redirected at poor op.

Op is a new mum and worried that even sober she may not notice signs baby is deteriorating and because the article doesn't say how baby died she is worried that her own child could suddenly die even though they are not in a neglectful household. My advice op is to avoid these types of articles and follow health visitor / lullaby trust advice.
being a new mum can be horrible i would be scared to go to the toilet in case ds died. Sending hugs Op

Manchester Evening News

”The prosecution case was that throughout the evening Birks only briefly observed her daughter from a dining room doorway rather than conducting proper checks.
When Rhian did not wake for her usual feed between 4.30am and 6.30am, Birks failed to notice this deviation from routine.
Between 6am and 9am, Birks then failed to recognise her daughter's deterioration in health.”

Have to say I’m surprised she was prosecuted. Obviously she wasn’t giving that baby her full attention, she’d been drinking and placed the baby on a sofa so from a “moral” pov yes she did things which put the baby at risk and has paid the price.

But a number of babies die every year on sofas, I’ve not heard of a parent been prosecuted before. Normally there is a big jump from a moral threshold to a legal threshold. I wonder if she’d been an upper middle class mum drinking wine at a dinner party if she’d have been similarly prosecuted?

I understand what the OP is asking, and it’s nothing to do with excusing the mother. She’s trying to understand what part of the behaviour of the mother constituted a criminal act- which, the way the article is written, does make it sound like:

• having a drink after having a baby could be a crime (it’s all about degrees isn’t it.)
• Smoking after having a baby could be a crime (isn’t but personally wish exposing babies to second hand smoke was)
• not going into the room where a baby is sleeping could be a crime (obviously safe sleep guidance says 6 months before they sleep alone, and OFC shouldn’t be on the sofa- but I feel like this could happen to lots of people).

of course all of these together + the level of alcohol consumed + the sofa sleeping + the age of the baby represent neglect- and it’s an awful case - but I understand the OPs question.

I don’t think it’s irresponsible and harmful but it is a bit of a vague article. The woman’s crime is leaving the baby to sleep unsafely all night, failing to get lifesaving help and failing to notice her baby had died (therefore neglect and basically manslaughter). It says signs of rigor mortis were noted, which starts to happen 2-6 hours after death. We don’t know the cause of death but stroke can be caused by suffocation (sleeping on sofa) or it could be SIDS due to something like cigarette smoke exposure.

An unresponsive baby is enough deterioration for concern but other deterioration symptoms could have been floppy body, weakness, differences in breathing, cold to touch, very pale or blue tinge. Obviously not breathing is the biggest one. The mother was presumably breathalysed in the morning when she was still pretty drunk and the ambulance crew noticed when they came to resus a cold dead baby so I think that is relevant - someone shouldn’t get so drunk that they can’t look after their baby properly and don’t notice when they stop breathing/literally die

Babies do go down hill quickly. This is why SWs have to do a pre-birth plan and decide that a baby will have to be removed at birth. When you attend A&E the first question is "are they still producing wet nappies". Overheating, oxygen levels falling, combined with dehydration, can kill a baby. Signs of deterioration have been outlined. Picking a baby up for a cuddle can restore a baby's breathing, enough for them to rally round. It's possible that there had been low level neglect, ongoing, which inpacts on the health of a baby. Then one twelve hour window is enough to cause death.

Smoking is a cause of SIDS. Not the sole cause but it absolutely contributes. Smoking during pregnancy is a big risk factor for SIDS. The theory is that it affects the baby’s ability to react to reduced oxygen levels while asleep. Smoking in a house with a baby or co-sleeping with a smoking parent are also correlated with SIDS risk.

Just making an educated guess, but I think it probably comes down to the timeline.

The EMTs arrived around 9:30 in the morning and the baby was starting to show signs of rigor mortis. With a baby that's going to start generally around 2 hours after death. Which means she probably died around 7:00 or 7:30 in the morning. She normally had to feed between 4:00 and 6:00 in the morning, but she didn't wake for that feed and the mother didn't notice because she was too drunk.

Had she not been drunk, it's possible that she would have checked on the baby when she didn't wake for her feed and been able to summon help more quickly. If her drunkenness prevented her from being able to summon help in a more timely manner then she's guilty of neglect even if ultimately the baby would have died anyway.

Sometimes the courts/judges forbidden certain information to be released during a court case, this could be for a variety of reasons.

In terms of learning from it all you need to know is to make sure there is a responsible adult looking after a baby at all times. A baby can also deteriorate very quickly from illnesses, as in get a high temperature and deteriorate to the point of needing medical attention over a couple of hours.

Also SIDS unfortunately happens and is increased with alcohol use and smoking within a household - which every parent should be aware of.

We dont know but there wouldve been something which the mum failed to see as was neglectful. If a baby was sick youd look after it.