Co-sleep contributed to 7 infant deaths in 2 years

Co-sleeping — a controversial practice where parents sleep with infants — was a contributing factor in four infant deaths this year and at least seven deaths over the past two years, according to newly compiled information from the Polk County Medical Examiner.

Des Moines police on Wednesday urged parents to stop sleeping with their children after reporting that three infants had died of apparent suffocation within the past week, after their parents rolled on them in their sleep or left them with a loose blanket.

Medical Examiner Gregory Schmunk said co-sleeping with an adult was a significant factor in the deaths of the four infants this year, ages 1 month, two at 2 months and 4 months.

But he said Thursday that the official causes of death still are medically "undetermined" and the cases are pending.

"In none of these cases do we have good evidence right now that the co-sleeping parent actually rolled over on the child," Schmunk said. "We may develop that later, but we're too early in the investigation."

Co-sleeping was not involved in the possible suffocation death of an infant, age 15 months, who died April 21 after a blanket was left in the bassinet where the child was sleeping. Schmunk said that investigation also is pending and an "unusual sleeping condition" is a factor in the death.

Facts garnered from police on infant fatalities, Schmunk said, don't rise to the level of "reasonable medical certainty" to determine a cause of death.

Des Moines Police Sgt. Jason Halifax clarified Thursday that suffocation or smothering is considered a possibility in the deaths of four children since April 21, including three in the past week.

Still, Schmunk said he can't recall a time when he had investigated three infant deaths within four days under these circumstances, not even when he worked in Santa Clara County, Calif., with a population exceeding 1.8 million.

Callen Boutchee, the grandmother of 2-month-old Kingston Ware, who died Wednesday, said co-sleeping had nothing to do with the baby's death.

The baby's father, Demassion Ware, was sleeping in the bed with Kingston, who had a sinus infection, she said.

Ware woke at one point to reposition the baby, Boutchee said.

When the baby's mother returned from work at 7 a.m., she found her son had passed away.

"The daddy was worried so much that he had him in bed with him," Boutchee said. "But he didn't have anything to do with his son passing away. ... That baby was loved."

In all, six Polk County infants have died this year.

The first, on Jan. 28, died of a virus and infection, according to Schmunk's findings.

Co-sleeping a factor in 2014 deaths

Of the 10 Polk County infants who died in 2014, three had definite evidence of co-sleeping, Schmunk found.

Another two had evidence of prone sleeping, where babies were positioned on their stomach — a practice discouraged by child care experts during the baby's first year.

•An Aug. 4, 2014, death of a 4-month-old included definite evidence that the child was sleeping on its stomach on an adult's lap, which was a contributing factor, Schmunk reported.

•An Oct. 26, 2014, infant death case indicated the baby was prone sleeping on a comforter on an adult bed, but there was also an ongoing medical condition, Schmunk found.

It's hard to prove what actually happened to an infant in these cases, Schmunk said.

Sometimes he can tell a child died facedown or that its face was pressed into a mattress because of a pale skin tone around the child's nose and chin.

But that's rare, he said.

Schmunk said none of these deaths could be attributed to sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. He said he couldn't recall the last time he had seen a SIDS death.

SIDS-related deaths dropped dramatically after the "Back to Sleep" program was initiated in 1994 by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Schmunk said.

Medical examiners nationally also have redefined SIDS to eliminate cases of infant deaths involving co-sleeping, sleeping on an adult bed or prone sleeping, Schmunk said.

"That is important to us because a medical examiner is really a public health person," he said. "And that tells us that many of these deaths are probably preventable."