Bath tragedy: Mother's fight to save baby

A desperate young mother frantically tried to revive her baby daughter after finding the infant floating face down in the bath next to her twin sister.

The 21-year-old mother's efforts were taken over by ambulance workers who rushed the 11-month-old girl to Starship Hospital.

But she died on Sunday afternoon after being taken off life support.

Police are investigating the death but say it's too early to know if charges will be laid.

Detective Michelle Shepherd, of the Waitakere child abuse team, said the incident happened on Wednesday morning at the family's Henderson home.

It is understood the mother briefly left her daughters in the bath while she went to get something ready for them.

In the short time she was gone, one of the girls got into trouble, while the other continued to play.

"It was just a matter of minutes," Miss Shepherd said. "She immediately scooped her out of the bath. She phoned the ambulance who talked her through doing CPR."

The Herald understands the mother worked frantically on her daughter, guided by ambulance staff over the phone, until help arrived.

The little girl spent five days in hospital on life support until a decision was made to turn the machines off on Sunday afternoon. She died soon after.

The death is the second drowning-related incident in West Auckland in five months.

In November, a 13-month-old boy drowned after being left alone in a deep bath for 15 minutes.

The boy's 29-year-old mother, who allegedly made no attempt to revive the boy or call for help, has been charged with his murder.

Miss Shepherd said the latest case was a timely reminder to parents about the importance of never leaving children unattended in the bath, even for a short time.

"Parents cannot afford to become complacent in their supervision of young children around water."

She said some parents left their children unsupervised in the bath while they popped out of the room for a moment, but it was never safe to do so.

The risks of drowning did not lessen as babies grew into toddlers, she said.

"Although your child may appear stable while moving around on dry land, the combination of a smooth bath surface, water and slippery bubble bath or soap make a lethal cocktail."

Water Safety NZ General Manager Matt Claridge said 41 children under the age of five had drowned during the past five years, eight of them in the bath.

"It's the most common site for children under the age of 12 months to drown."

Mr Claridge said the most important message parents could remember was to always maintain hand contact with a child in the bath and that adults, not older children, should be in charge of bathtime.

"It's not worth trusting the care of toddlers or infants to siblings."

Plunket National Child Youth Safety Advisor Sue Campbell said children should never be left alone near any water.

"Children have to be supervised at all times in and around water, and in particular infants can't be left alone in the bath for any length of time."

Ms Campbell said answering the phone, a knock at the door or going to get a towel or clothing were not excuses for leaving a child alone in the bath. If the parent had to leave the room, the child should be removed from the water and taken too.

CHILD DROWNINGS

* The bath is the most common place for a child under 12 months to drown.
* Children can drown in as little as 6cm of water.
* 41 children under the age of 5 have drowned during the past five years.
* 8 of those were in the bath.