A HAMPSHIRE coroner has urged parents to follow safety advice about feeding babies in bed after a month-old infant died when her mum fell asleep.

Southampton and New Forest coroner Keith Wiseman issued the plea at the inquest into the death of Tayla Avery, who died after her mother, Joanne Bell, fell asleep while feeding her.

The court heard how Miss Bell had been celebrating a birthday night out in Southampton with her partner, Christian Avery, before returning to their home in Vanguard Road, Bitterne, in the early hours.

Miss Bell woke at around 7.30am to feed her daughter and sat in the bed with her. She then fell asleep and awoke a short while later to find the baby lifeless.

Det Sgt Brett Sanders, from Hampshire police, told the inquest an ambulance was called and paramedics spent 20 minutes trying to resuscitate Tayla before she was pronounced dead at Southampton General Hospital.

He said that after an investigation it was clear that it had been a tragic accident.

He told the hearing that health visitors advised new parents not to feed their children in bed.

“It is important to raise awareness of the dangers of sleeping with a child in a bed, especially where a person is affected by a lack of sleep or any other factors,” he added.

The court heard how a post mortem had concluded that Tayla died from “sudden unexpected death in infancy”.

Mr Wiseman said that although it was an unusual form of cot death, it was not unheard of.

“It’s a very sad event and it’s important that the circumstances are given the appropriate publicity,” he said.

“This is far from being an unknown and isolated incident and I think it is important that the publicity which attaches to an event of this kind implicates the dangers of a child sharing a bed with an adult.

“It was a desperately tragic event for the couple and it is important that I emphasise it in this way.”

The coroner recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.