Inquest hears alcohol raised co-sleeping risks before baby’s unexplained death
Five-month-old Nancy Hamilton was found unresponsive at home after her mother fell asleep while breastfeeding her in bed. The inquest heard that the mother had consumed five or six glasses of wine the previous day; the coroner said alcohol increases the general risks of co-sleeping, while stressing there was no evidence unsafe sleep practices caused Nancy’s death.
Nancy had struggled to sleep during a heatwave, and her mother brought her into bed at about 4am, using pillows for support. Paramedics attempted CPR, but Nancy was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem could not establish a medical cause of death; the inquest also heard she had an abnormal heart but had been considered healthy. Police said a criminal investigation was not appropriate.
- Nancy Hamilton died aged five months after being found unresponsive at home.
- Her mother had drunk five or six glasses of wine the previous day.
- The inquest found no evidence unsafe sleep practices caused her death.
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Co-sleeping, where babies share a bed with parents, is a common practice but carries known risks. An inquest has been examining the death of five-month-old Nancy Hamilton, who was found unresponsive in bed with her mother.
Nancy's mother had brought her into bed at around 4am during a heatwave when the baby was struggling to sleep. The inquest heard that the mother had consumed five or six glasses of wine the previous day, and that alcohol increases the general risks associated with co-sleeping.
Doctors could not establish a medical cause for Nancy's death after post-mortem examination. The coroner stressed there was no evidence that unsafe sleep practices caused her death, and police concluded that no criminal investigation was needed.
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The case for
Alcohol and co-sleeping with infants present well-documented risks, and parents bear responsibility for minimising such hazards regardless of other factors. The mother's consumption of five or six glasses of wine before co-sleeping with a young child represented poor risk management; even without definitive medical causation, holding parents to high safety standards is essential to protect vulnerable children and reinforce the importance of avoiding established risk factors.
The case against
The coroner explicitly found no evidence that co-sleeping practices caused Nancy's death, and she possessed an undiagnosed heart abnormality that may have been fatal regardless. A mother struggling with a distressed infant during a heatwave made an understandable human choice under difficult circumstances; without proof of causation, emphasising parental fault compounds grief and risks unfairly judging parents when the true medical cause remains unknown.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Five-month-old girl died after her mother fell asleep while breastfeeding after drinking five glasses of wine, inquest told”.