A new mum was left distraught after waking up to find her five-day-old baby lifeless in her arms.
Lydia Pass, 18, found little Arabella Mayer unresponsive in the early hours of June 17 after she fell asleep with her baby in a chair, the inquest heard.
Arabella was born less than a week earlier at the Royal Stoke University Hospital on June 12th. Shortly afterwards the newborn was taken back to the family home in Abbey Halton, Stoke-on-Trent.
Lydia and her partner Ryan, 18, went to bed around midnight after feeding Arabella and putting her to bed. The couple woke up at 3am to Arabella crying, then changed clothes, fed her and returned to bed.
But Lydia woke up sitting in her chair at 5:45 a.m., with Arabella slumped in her arms. The distraught young mother did not remember picking Arabella up or falling back to sleep, The Sentinel reported.
Arabella with her parents, 18-year-old Lydia Pass and Ryan Mayer. Photo: Stoke Sentinel.
The inquest heard Lydia may have suffered from anemia-related malnutrition following a traumatic three-day labor during which she “lost pints of blood.”
Lydia immediately sought help after discovering that Arabella had stopped breathing. Her brother called 999 and began performing CPR until paramedics arrived.
Arabella was rushed to Royal Stoke where doctors managed to restore her heartbeat, but she was already “clinically dead” for about 50 minutes.
Dr Sukesh Mohta, a consultant in Royal Stoke’s pediatric intensive care unit, oversaw Arabella’s care.
He told the inquest: “The brain can only survive without oxygen for about four or five minutes. Anything longer is a cause for serious concern. With CPR we can try to maintain some blood flow, but it’s not nearly as effective as the heart.”
“Our first actions were simply to prevent further injury. We applied neuroprotection. This included putting her in an induced coma to protect her brain. We then hoped to remove her from support. But when we did a brain scan, the results were very bad.”
Arabella was found unconscious in the early hours of June 17th.
“We had some difficult discussions with the family. It became clear that the situation was impossible to survive. On June 20, the decision was made to turn off the life support system.”
Pediatric pathologist Martha Cohen suggested that Arabella may have suffocated either due to an undiagnosed genetic problem or the way she fell asleep.
She said: “We don’t know why she collapsed. Sudden unexpected death occurs in infants under one year of age. This is a case where death is unexplained. This is very rare in babies who are just a few days old.”
Detective Inspector Adam Goodyear, from Staffordshire Police’s child protection service, ruled out any suggestion of neglect.
He said: “In my conclusion this is a very sad tragedy. An exhausted mum picked her up at night to lay her down and then fell asleep with Arabella in her arms. There is no neglect issue here. She was very well cared for by her loving family. My sincere condolences to them all.”
The baby was born at the Royal Stoke University Hospital. Photo: Pete Stonier/Stoke Sentinel.
Coroner Lindsey Tonks recorded that Arabella died of delayed sudden death due to unsafe sleeping conditions.
Ms Tonks concluded: “We have two parents and an extended family who have prepared everything for their newborn. They created a wonderful home for her to return to after a particularly difficult birth. There were no health problems in the first five days.
“Giving birth took a lot from Arabella’s mother. This, and the demands of becoming a new mother, left her exhausted. She woke up to find Arabella unresponsive in her arms and had no idea how she got there. Her mom did everything she could. “Her family did everything they could to give her the best chance of survival.”
“There was no evidence that anything was done intentionally or any signs of neglect. The police made this very clear. The medical team was also very clear about this. I hope this can reassure mom. There is no suggestion she did anything wrong.”
“Obviously this was a mom who did everything she could to create a loving home for her daughter. It was a horribly tragic situation that no parent would ever want to go through. All I can do is express my sincerest condolences to the family. This is a situation that no one ever wants to face. It was just a terrible, terrible tragedy.”