KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and SportsInfant death study shows babies sleeping in parents beds

It's been talked about as dangerous for years, but now a close look at infant deaths in one California County reveals one of the leading culprits... parents sharing a bed with an infant.

It's not uncommon for babies to share the bed with their parents, but that practice can be deadly. Since 2005, 41 babies have died from unsafe sleeping practices in Santa Clara County, California. About half of the deaths were linked to bed sharing. And only a fraction of those cases involved parents who'd been using alcohol or drugs. "The baby is sleeping with an adult, usually a parent or older child, and during the night the adult or older child accidentally rolls onto the baby during their sleep," said Dr. Louis Girling, Jr.

County Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Michelle Jordan uses these dolls to help parents re-enact the circumstances that led up to their child's death, including where the baby was placed and the location of surrounding pillows and bedding. "I've had cases where infants have accidentally suffocated in soft bedding, whether that's on an adult size bed or whether its in a crib because the crib was just loaded with soft blankets and the baby becomes entrapped face down," said Dr. Michelle Jordan. Dr. Jordan says other babies died after while sleeping on a couch or nursing pillow, the problem is often babies aren't strong enough to lift their tiny heads if they're pressed against bedding and can't breathe. "We want families to put their babies to sleep safely. And the safest way to do that is for the baby to sleep alone, so no bed sharing, on the back meaning baby is lying on his or her back face up, and in a crib or bassinet with a firm mattress and no soft objects in the environment," said Dr. Louis Girling, Jr.

The 41 babies that died in Santa Clara County were otherwise healthy, the coroners office considered them all preventable deaths.