Senior HV says Co-Sleeping is very dangerous

[MoonlightMcKenzie]

She's actually a very good HV in lots of ways but trained a long time ago. Her bf knowledge isn't brilliant but I have never heard anything damaging from her.

I know she would be openminded and interested in information I could provide on co-sleeping NOT being very dangerous, so this is a request for links and research.

Many thanks

Oh, her main point being that maternal heat can overheat the baby

Three in a Bed by Deborah Jackson. Good starting point

Yeah but the point there is you don't wrap them up and swaddle them when you co-sleep.

And because of her senior role she has admitted her frustration at not being able to update her basic HV skills as her limited training days are spent on training on employment procedures etc.

That seems a bit lame though as she could do some research herself. Read some books etc, like we all do.

ginger You are right, but from what I can see she does a HUGE amount of extra-curricular work supporting 'individual' parents of vulnerable children get support.

That's why I think if I could hand her the info she'd take it on board, but prolly wouldn't go searching herself for extra work.

If she really is as open to up-to-date information as you say she is, and if she really wants to update her knowledge as she says she does, I'd have thought that it was part of her job (and in her own best interest) to go searching for up-to-date information, if her employers aren't prepared to send her for training.

Sounds like a cop-out to me.

www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/articles/McKenna_why%20babies%20should%20n.pdf

Great peer reviewed article entitled "why babies should never sleep alone"

In Germany strongly told not to do this - it's right at the top of risk factors for SIDS. Is advice different in UK then?

Baby died in our local maternity hospital through co-sleeping . It's now banned.

www.dur.ac.uk/sleep.lab/publications/

If she has access to medical journals:
The Lancet 2006; 367:314-319
Major epidemiological changes in sudden infant death syndrome: a 20-year population-based study in the UK
but you need to have subscription access through a library / the PCT.

You need to be statistically literate to get the most out of the article but essentially it says:

The number of SIDS deaths in both cot-sleeping and bed-sharing babies has fallen.

The number of SIDS deaths in cot-sleeping babies has fallen faster than the number of SIDS deaths in bed-sharing babies.

The number and proportion of SIDS deaths in sofa-sharing babies has risen.

Sleeping with a baby on a sofa is not a safe option.

Most SIDS is now in deprived families.

Most SIDS is in families where the mother smokes.
Tobacco smoke is thought to be part of the causal mechanism for SIDS. 80-90% of SIDS mothers smoked in pregnancy, far more than in the general population of mothers with a similarly deprived socio-economic background.

A higher proportion of SIDS cases are in pre-term infants ? 1/3 of SIDS infants are pre-term, compared with just 5% of infants in the population.

Breastfeeding is rare in the mothers of SIDS infants.

www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T071000.asp
There is also this leaflet from the UNICEF BFI in conjunction with FSiD.

"Baby died in our local maternity hospital through co-sleeping sad. It's now banned."

I would really like to know the details of this death. I have a feeling that the staff overlooked one of the main reasons for not co-sleeping. "Never cosleep if you are overtired."

and / or possibly " do not cosleep if you have used drugs" - Pethidine/ diamorphine/ metpid are common pain relieving narcotics used in childbirth.

nearly all the bedsharing deaths that occurred over a 10 yr period in the US that happened in an adult bed were traced back to breaking one or more of the key rules for not co-sleeping.

Ah there you are Foxy, was hoping you'd come along. Couldn't remember your new name already sorry!

That's the thing to say that co-sleeping causes death is wrong. It's the other factors, inappropriate bed / bedding, overtiredness, smoking, drinking, drugs to name a few are often the cause but not necessarily the reported.

The SIDS leaflet given out by our midwives says you shouldn't have baby in bed with you if you're overtired - they may as well say NO CO-SLEEPING. Isn't everyone with young children exhausted (ie overtired) by bedtime?

When DD was born, midwife tucked her up in bed with me, in the hospital - it was the only way that she would stop crying and we could both get some sleep.

So I felt more confident co-sleeping with her at home, which I did for a month or so.

Jetskier -co-sleeping was the reason that I didn't feel overtired despite having a newborn. If you've been trying to get a baby to sleep in its cot/moses basket for night after night and then give up and start co-sleeping out of desperation then yes - that could be dangerous.

shitehawk Ok I'm not defending her. I don't KNOW why she doesn't update herself, but I do know that if the information comes easily then she may be prepared to take an interest in it, and 'possibly' filter it down.

Ginger Looks like we have the same taste in music. Loved th Life of Pi by Yann Martel too. Didn't understand a word of it but didn't want it to end.

Thanks everyone for links and research summaries so far!

That's a very good point fairly

foxytocin another reason in hospital, the beds are single and would be very easy for a baby to fall onto the concrete floor. That was the reason stated in my hospital for not having her in with me.

Tight "hospital corners" on the bed made sure that DD was secure, I was sleeping propped up on pillows.

Define 'over' tired - it's not unreasonable for the maternity hospital to not take on the responsibility for assessing tiredness levels and deem co-sleeping to be ok or not. It's a litigation culture and who would say to a new mum - well you decided, it's your own fault your baby died

Did you put your baby at the bottom of your bed?

I co-slept with DS2 in hospital. He'd been in NICU for the previous 2 nights, and I wanted him as close to me as possible. This was the only way he would sleep for the next 18m!