NEWSDAY JUNE 18, 2 K14 CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILIES Baby boy suffocates on mother’s breast Wednesday, June 18 2014 An autopsy carried out on the body of six-month-old Christopher Rambahan, who died while being breast-fed by his mother on Sunday night, revealed yesterday that he died from positional asphyxia. Neisha Wattley, the 24-year-old mother, went to the Forensic Science Centre, St James accompanied by a female relative and identified her infant son. Following the autopsy, pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov told Newsday Wattley had placed the baby on her stomach and put her right nipple into his mouth to breast-feed him, but then she fell asleep. He said when Wattley woke up, the nipple was still in the baby’s mouth but his nose was pressed against her breast causing oxygen deprivation. “The nose of the child became tightly compressed, resulting in oxygen deprivation, and then death,” Alexandrov said. Police have since ruled the death was accidental, and no charges are to be laid against Wattley. According to police reports, at about 11.30 pm, on Sunday, Wattley of Perseverance Village, Chaguanas began breast-feeding her son but fell asleep. When she awoke Wattley discovered milk running from the baby’s nose. The frantic woman took the baby to the Chaguanas Health Centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The body was viewed by a district medical officer, and then removed to the Forensic Science Centre for yesterday’s autopsy. A report was made to the Chaguanas Police Station. The baby’s death has raised questions for paediatrician Dr June Webb who yesterday said it was unusual for a six-month-old baby to asphyxiate while being breast-fed. “When you are breast-feeding you make sure that the nostrils are free, so I don’t know what happened. But, certainly if you are breast feeding a baby and they are six months they will let you know, so I find this very strange. Positional asphyxia...what does that mean?” the doctor said of the autopsy. Babyyourbaby said positional asphyxia happens when a person cannot get enough air to breathe due to the positioning of his/her body. This happens most often in infants, when an infant dies and is found in a position where his/her mouth and nose is blocked, or where his/her chest may be unable to fully expand. Which was why Webb was at a loss to explain the tragedy. “The mother did say that the milk came through the nose. That is not a big thing because a six- month-old baby knows that if the nostrils are blocked they would open their mouth and breathe. “Usually they would let go of the breast, and you wouldn’t continue nursing,” she said. “Again, I do not know the circumstances under which the lady was feeding the baby, but it is such a tragedy. I feel for the lady,” Webb said.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Jun 2014 11:36:08 +0000
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