Hednesford mother in nappy sack baby death warning

A woman whose baby son suffocated on a nappy sack has backed a safety campaign to prevent further such deaths.

Beth Amison, of Staffordshire, has described her "heartbreak" over the death in 2013 of son Maison.

Mrs Amison spoke out to help the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) campaign.

Rospa has acted after the numbers of such deaths in England and Wales reached 16, with the death of a six-month-old boy in Derby, last year.

All nappy sack fatalities have involved babies under 12 months old and date back to 2001, Rospa's research has shown.

Mrs Amison, from Hednesford, said Maison had reached the nappy sacks from a stand next to his cot.

"I went to wake him up - only it wasn't his beautiful smile I was greeted with," she remembered.

"Instead, Maison was lying in his cot with a handful of nappy sacks scattered around him and one was covering his face.

"From this moment on, it's all a painful blur but I know that 999 was called and my house was full of paramedics desperately trying to save my baby's life. I knew he was gone and that it was too late."

•Always keep nappy sacks and other plastic bags or wrapping away from babies and young children

•Never place nappy sacks in or near a baby's cot or pram

•Buy nappy sacks on a roll if possible.

Since Maison's death, Mrs Amison has had two more children but she no longer uses nappy sacks.

She said: "Don't have the 'It won't happen to me' or 'It didn't do me any harm, so I'm not going to think about it' attitudes because when tragedy strikes, it leaves you heartbroken forever."

In response to the latest such death, in Allenton, Derby last December, coroner Paul McCandless recorded a verdict of accidental death saying it was "a tragic and unforeseen occurrence".

Sheila Merrill, Rospa public health advisor, said: "While most people are well aware plastic bags can be dangerous to children they don't associate these risks with nappy sacks, so are less likely to take the same safety precautions."