A CORONER has issued a warning on the dangers of co-sleeping with newborns following the tragic death of a three-week-old baby.

Harry Marwood-Bartlett, of Holker, died on November 15 2018, after he was placed in bed with his mother to be fed.

Cockermouth Coroner's Court heard that Joanne Marwood, who was a self-employed hairdresser, had gone back to work just 10 days after having her baby on October 20.

After a full day at work, Ms Marwood went to bed at around 10pm and put Harry in his cot, at the foot of her bed.

She later woke up to feed him. She sat with her knees up in bed, and her back against the headboard, with the baby on her knees, to do so.

Ms Marwood had dozed off but said she woke up in the same position to find Harry lying on his front, next to her on the bed. There was a pool of blood on the duvet around his face. She said he was still warm but unresponsive.

Her grown-up son, Thomas, called 999 and CPR was administered until the ambulance arrived. Harry was then taken to Furness General Hospital but was later pronounced dead, despite doctors’ efforts to save him.

Tests showed Ms Marwood had no alcohol or drugs in her system at the time of Harry’s death.

A post mortem revealed Harry had no injuries or underlying disease or infection.

The two pathologists investigating Harry’s death could not reach a conclusion on how he had died.

Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour said the cause of death was due to overlaying - which is caused by a larger individual sleeping on top of an infant.

However, Dr Jo McPartland, paediatric and perinatal pathologist disagreed, giving the cause of death as unascertained.

Coroner Dr Nicholas Shaw also said the medical cause of death was unascertained.

He concluded that Harry’s death was associated with inadvertent co-sleeping.

Dr Shaw said:”I would like to stress how desperately sad this is for a little infant in this situation. It does bring tears to your eyes.

“I can quite understand how Joanne might fall asleep under the circumstances.

“I don’t find I can support a conclusion of overlaying. I would prefer Dr McPartland’s of unascertained death.

“Most likely that he rolled off the knee at some stage then came into an unsafe position lying face down.

“I don’t blame you Joanne. You’ve had a tiring day, you fed baby and nodded off. If you hadn’t, I’m sure you would have put him back in his cot.

“It’s most likely had he been back in his cot he would have been alright.

“It’s really important to stress that babies should not share beds. They should be taken out of their cot, sit in a chair for feeding, then put back in the cot.

“This is the message we should take from this very sad case. I’m very sorry for your loss.”