Seconds from tragedy: Baby cam reveals mum's horror

The mum's quick actions saved her son from harm. Photo / Douyin

A mum has shared the horrifying moment she watched her son struggling to breathe while her husband dozed nearby - and she was at work, far from her child.

The mum from Shanghai shared baby cam footage to Chinese social network Douyin, showing how her fast reactions saved the family from tragedy.

She was at work and checking the video baby monitor remotely, while her partner dozed in their bedroom.

The Sun reports that the mum was alerted by her son's cries and checked the video stream.

Her newborn son had pulled a blanket across his face for as long as two minutes and the tiny infant could not remove it and was struggling to breathe.

The mum watched in horror as her newborn son struggled to breathe. Photo / Douyin

She urgently called her partner, waking him to say: "Check the baby, his face is covered by the blanket."

Video shows the dad removing the blanket before telling his wife: "Oh, he's fine now."

The mum called the boy's father to remove the blanket. Photo / Douyin

Viewers of the footage were quick to praise the mum for saving the baby's life while claiming the husband was "irresponsible" while in charge of his son.

Social media comments were quick to heap praise on the mum - and blame her partner.

One wrote: "The love of a mother is amazing, she checks in on her child even when she has work to do."

Others pointed the finger at the sleeping dad.

"The father is too irresponsible. Had the mother not checked on her son, the baby could have died of suffocation," one wrote.

"That's a call for a bad parent right here, how could he not hear his son crying when he is right next to him?" another said.

Others though found the dad's behaviour too bizarre and wondered if he might not be the child's biological parent.

The mum's quick actions saved her son from harm. Photo / Douyin

Bizarrely, some even claimed that his actions were evidence that he may not be the boy's biological father.

"This dad did not pass the parent vibe check, I doubt that's his biological son," one joked.

"You can feel how frustrated the mum was, is he even the baby's father?" another said.

Official advice in New Zealand is for parents to keep their baby's sleeping space free of any blankets, pillow or cushions.

On their website, Plunket offer the following advice:

Baby's bed is safe when:

• It has a firm and flat mattress so your baby's airway is open when lying flat on their back
• There are no gaps between the bed frame and the mattress that your baby could become trapped or wedged in
• Baby is in the same room as you or the person looking after them at night for their first six months

These things aren't safe to use in your baby's bed:

• Pillows and cushions
• Loose blankets, sheets, covers or other loose bedding
• Bumper pads (pads that attach to the ends and sides of cribs)
• Loose ribbons, ties or threads on a baby's clothes
• Toys, teething necklaces, or anything they could suffocate or choke on
• Sheepskins aren't suitable if your family/whānau has a history of asthma or allergy, because they can collect house dust mites. If you want to use a sheepskin, use a short-hair type, and cover it with a sheet.