GRIEVING: Kerryann Davies in Freddy's bedroom with a picture of her son. Echo picture by Chris Moorhouse

SHE DID what most new Hampshire mums do and what other mums have done since time immemorial.

Kerryann Davies bottle-fed four-week-old Freddy Barry, pictured right, in her bed and let him sleep there peacefully.

She got in next to him so she could bond with her first-born. Less than eight hours later he was dead.

The mum did not think she was doing anything wrong by sleeping with her baby and did what seemed to be the most natural thing in the world, but it cost her her son's life.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Echo, Kerryann, 23, recalled that traumatic day.

She said: "I gave him his last feed at about 10.30pm on April 4 and I put him in my bed. I didn't always let him sleep in my bed, I sometimes put him in his Moses basket but he looked so cosy and warm that I didn't want to disturb him.

"I then went to sleep with him in my single bed not thinking I was doing anything wrong. I woke up at about 5.30am and realised I had been asleep for more than four hours and I knew something was wrong straightaway."

Kerryann realised Freddy was not breathing and was slightly blue and she ran to her mum who was sleeping downstairs for help. Kerryann called an ambulance while her mum tried to resuscitate him.

Until Freddy's death Kerryann had never heard of a baby dying as a result of sleeping with one or more parents but as the statistics show, it is one of the most common reasons for sudden infant deaths.

She added: "It was absolutely awful losing Freddy like that. It's every mother's nightmare. Every single mother I know, including my own mum and my family, have had their babies in bed with them but I never knew how dangerous it was until Freddy's death.

"When the health visitor came round after Freddy was born I asked her about the best position to put Freddy to sleep and she mentioned not having him in bed with me but I didn't think anything of it. I would never do it now and nor would anyone in my family. I have got a completely different outlook on life now."

Many mothers are unaware of the risks of sleeping with their babies and Kerryann is calling for more information to be provided for mums while they are in the hospital.

She thinks midwives and health visitors should talk through the dangers with every new mum while they are in hospital.

She added: "I think the information should come from a midwife or health visitor because you remember everything they tell you about how to look after your new baby.

"I did read about not sleeping with your baby but I just wanted him there with me all the time. It needs to be drummed in to mums all the time about how dangerous it is.

"I wanted to bond with him and I wanted him to know that I was his mum but now I have no baby to bond with and I don't think it's worth taking that risk at all."

First published 16th November 2005

10:51am Thursday 8th June 2006

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