Mother Claims Baby Passes Away After Nanny Let Her Sleep On Stomach & Didn’t Check On Her
When it comes to caring for babies, a lot of things need to be taken into account. One mistake that could apparently prove fatal is allowing young infants to sleep on their stomachs.
Recently, a mother from Malaysia reportedly lost her two-month-old daughter after the nanny she engaged allowed the infant to sleep on her belly and failed to check on her.
The mother has since taken to Facebook to recount the incident and share how she felt the nanny had shied away from responsibility following the incident.
Nanny says baby would sleep longer by resting on stomach
On Saturday (4 Jun), Ms Tho – a mother from Malaysia – share her experience in a parenting group on Facebook.
According to Ms Tho, she had handed her two-month-old daughter to a nanny, who claimed to have experience working in a daycare, five days ago.
While caring for the infant, the nanny apparently allowed her to sleep face down, claiming she’d sleep longer and more peacefully.
One day, as the nanny picked the baby up from her slumber, the infant let out a cough before her entire body went “soft”.
The nanny subsequently brought the baby to a family clinic.
There, the nanny called Ms Tho and informed her that her daughter’s face had gone pale and that her nails had turned blue, before asking the mother if she could bring the baby to a hospital.
In the Facebook post, Ms Tho pointed out that the nanny should’ve capitalised on the “golden window of opportunity” and sent the baby straight to a hospital.
Sadly, the baby passed away from asphyxia 30 minutes after arriving at the hospital.
Ms Tho speculated that the incident occurred either because the nanny didn’t pay attention to the baby, or that she wasn’t by the infant’s side.
Mother lodges police report
Afterwards, the nanny apologised multiple times for what had happened.
However, when Ms Tho’s husband asked for her identification card, the nanny allegedly claimed that she didn’t have it with her as she was in a rush.
She also didn’t allow her picture to be taken, saying that it would affect her future career prospects.
According to Ms Tho, the nanny has yet to contact them or offer any form of compensation. Hence, she hopes to raise awareness of the nanny’s irresponsible actions through the Facebook post.
Ending the post, Ms Tho bid her baby a tearful goodbye,
Mummy’s beautiful daughter… mummy will miss you, you will forever be in mummy’s heart.
Ms Tho has reportedly lodged a police report in hopes of finding out what led to the tragic incident, reports Sin Chew Daily.
Risks for infants sleeping on their bellies
According to Healthline, belly sleeping increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), defined as “the sudden and unexplained death of a baby younger than a year old”.
While the relationship between SIDS and belly sleeping is unclear, the sudden outcome could apparently be due to various reasons such as:
- Increased chance of baby re-breathing their own breath, causing CO2 buildup and low oxygen levels
- Upper airway obstruction
- Overheating
Given the fatal consequences, parents are generally advised to put their babies to sleep on their backs until they’re one year old, shared Infant CPR.
Hope investigations will bring some semblance of closure to the family
It’s saddening to hear of such a young baby’s demise, especially under possibly preventable circumstances.
We hope the police will get to the bottom of the incident and bring some semblance of closure to the young girl’s parents.
MS News offers our condolences to the bereaved family. May the deceased rest in peace.
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Featured image adapted from iStock, for illustration purposes only.Â