Warning: This article contains information about the loss of a child, which may be distressing for some readers.
A heartbroken mum in the US has issued a warning to other parents about the dangers of breastfeeding while tired.
Writing on Facebook just a day after her son’s death, Kristin Hoffmann revealed she lost her seven-week-old baby, John Thomas Michael Abernathy, after she fell asleep during feeding time.
"It greatly pains me and shames me that this happened, but I have to ask you all to please share and spread the word," she wrote.
"No matter how tired you are as a mother, GET UP AND GO TO A CHAIR or somewhere you won't fall asleep when you feed your child at night.
"My precious son slipped off my breast and into the covers of my bed early Sunday morning and into heaven.
"The way we discovered him was a tragedy I don't want to hear [it happen to] anyone else."
Although baby John was able to be revived, he had been deprived of oxygen for too long and he passed away.
Kristin's powerful message has already been shared over 300 times, with many reassuring the young mum her baby's death was a tragic accident.
"My heart is so heavy for you, please know that this could have happened to any one," a friend wrote.
"EVERY mother has fallen asleep...know that God needed your baby for something special."
The Australian Breastfeeding Association recommends it is not safe to share a bed with your baby if you you are "unusually tired, to the point where you would find it hard to respond to your baby".
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Top Comments
Looking after a new baby is very tiring and mothers will fall asleep feeding their baby from time to time. For this reason, it is actually safest to feed in bed but to make the bed a safe environment in case you do fall asleep. Getting up to feed on a chair or sofa can be very dangerous and increase the risk of SIDS or an accident. In the UK there was a time when public health messaging was never to sleep with your baby. Rather than saving baby's lives this result in an increase in deaths...on sofas and chairs- places that cannot be made safe for a baby if the parent falls asleep. They changed their messaging as a result and now provide information on factors to consider in different sleep environments https://www.isisonline.org.uk/
I once woke whilst covering my newborn after breastfeeding in bed. Fortunately he was still breathing. I moved to the recliner after that and fell asleep countless times. So I was shocked last year when I read that SIDS recommend feeding in a bed over a recliner. Heart breaks for this Mum. Such a horrible accident