Blackpool coroner probes tragic death of 2-week-old Wesham baby just hours after night feed

The cause of death of a two week-old baby girl tragically found unresponsive at a Fylde home remains a mystery.

An inquest at Blackpool Town Hall heard that Olivia Rose Smith’s parents called 999 after being unable to wake her, several hours after she had woken for a feed in the middle of the night.

On arriving at the home in Garstang Road South, Wesham, paramedics were told by the parents that Olivia had been found on her back in her Moses basket, but a post mortem carried out by Home Office pathologist Dr Matt Ceika found that blood pooling on the body suggested that she had been face down at the time of her death.

The baby’s parents admitted at the inquest that Olivia had perhaps been lying with her mum on the sofa during the night, a scenario supported by an indentation found on Olivia’s back suggesting she had been lying on a phone-charging cable.

Dr Ceika said there was no sign of trauma, injury or infection found at the post mortem, which in normal circumstances would lead him to conclude the cause of death to be Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

But, for that to be the case, Olivia would have had to have been in a safe sleeping environment. Sleeping face-down was not judged to be safe, added Dr Ceika, whose report to the inquest said the cause of death was therefore unascertained.

At the inquest, it was revealed that police called to the scene by paramedics found the house to be untidy, with some items - including make-up containers - found in the Moses basket. Det Insp Bethany Shaw said officers were told the items in the Moses basked had been put there after Olivia’s death.

DI Shaw confirmed there was no sign of drugs or alcohol on the premises, but the parents were cautioned by police as to neglect based on the state of the house, with no further proceedings to follow.

The inquest heard that Olivia Rose’s mum had missed several ante-natal and post-natal appointments, although she had regularly attended hospital for checks in the run-up to Olivia’s birth by Caesarean section at Blackpool Victoria on October 13 last year.

Olivia and her mum were discharged the following day, with the baby declared perfectly healthy, but in the following days, a community midwife was unable to gain entry to the home for ante-natal appointments. One was rearranged for October 30, the day on which Olivia was found at around 8am.

Blackpool and Fylde senior coroner Alan Wilson said that, if those appointments at the family home had been kept, it might have been possible for the condition of the home to be noticed by the authorities and something done to improve it. But he felt there was no evidence to suggest that would have made any difference to the outcome.

Mr Wilson said the fact the cause of death was unascertained meant he was unable to give a short form conclusion of either natural causes or misadventure and he recorded a narrative conclusion based on the circumstances of Olivia’s death.