A SIX-MONTH-OLD premature baby girl died of positional asphyxia after she was left sleeping overnight in a car seat on the sitting room floor, an inquest has heard.
Baby Katie Reilly of Kilcross Court, Sandyford, Co Dublin, was found unresponsive in the car seat by her mother Laura Reilly on the morning of January 8th, 2008.
A postmortem by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy found the death was a sudden unexpected death in infancy due to prematurity and positional asphyxia.
The findings suggested the baby was dead for a few hours before she was discovered, Prof Cassidy told the inquest. Dublin City Coroner’s Court heard the baby had been in the car seat for up to five-and-a-half hours on the night.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said it was a sudden death of a vulnerable infant because of her size and weight, with a major risk factor of positional asphyxia. “The major risk factor is the position in which the baby was in,” he said.
A jury of four men and three women returned a verdict of death by misadventure and recommended that child car seats should not be used in the home as a “prolonged rest places” for infants and should only be for car use.
Prof Cassidy said the position the child would have been in (in the car seat) meant her breathing could be compromised. Because of her small size, instead of being propped up in the car seat, she was able to slide down and her neck would have kinked.
She was prevented from sliding out of the chair by the strap between her legs, the court heard.
The post-mortem found the baby was dehydrated and had severe nappy rash.
It appeared she had been left in wet nappies for extensive periods.
The court heard Ms Reilly had returned from the pub around 2.15am on January 8th having left her six children, the eldest of whom was 12, at home on their own. Ms Reilly was accompanied by a barman who came back to the house for drinks. Ms Reilly had also been at the pub during the day. Barman John O’Reilly, who left about an hour later, told the inquest the baby appeared normal.
The coroner said it was clear the baby was alive between 2.30am and 3.30am or so on January 8th.
When Ms Reilly went to give Katie a bottle at 8.50am she found her daughter, who was 13 weeks premature at birth, unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at St Vincent’s University Hospital a short time later. Gardaí investigated further after fresh blood was found in Katie’s nappy.
District court proceedings against Ms Reilly for child neglect of six children resulted in a guilty plea to six charges. She was put on probation for 18 months. She told the inquest her children are not with her anymore. The baby’s father James Kavanagh did not attend the inquest.