Bed-sharing not all bad for baby, says study

A fierce debate over the dangers of babies sharing beds with their parents has been re-ignited in New Zealand with the release of a study suggesting the practice is beneficial to babies and is gaining popularity.

Over five years, Otago health experts videotaped for two nights 40 families who shared a bed with babies and 40 whose babies slept in cots.

The results, just published in the American Pediatrics magazine, found no bed-sharing infants were dangerously affected during the night, despite 22 babies getting bedding over their faces - in one case for 3 1/2 hours.

Babies in bed were touched and checked nearly three times more than those in cots and breastfed nearly four times as much.

However, its authors acknowledge the potential hazards and make no claim that bed-sharing is safe, suggesting further investigation is needed.

The study has prompted concern from cot death experts.

Ed Mitchell, an Auckland University professor of child health research who has viewed the tapes, describes them as "really scary".

"When mum's asleep, she grabs the blankets and pulls them up around the neck."

He observed babies completely under covers, where they would be breathing lower oxygen levels.

Although no baby died during the study, head covering and babies lying on their sides were "known risk factors for SIDS [sudden infant death syndrome]".

Professor Mitchell, who was part of the New Zealand Cot Death Study, said evidence clearly showed that bed-sharing was dangerous.

He called for stronger deterrents for parents.

"I think people have been sitting on the fence for too long. The evidence is very clear, and it's about time."

Sally Baddock, associate head of Otago's Midwifery School, warned that such condemnation would only drive the practice underground.

"We know that lots of families really value bed-sharing around the world, not just New Zealand.

"So I think that by making a general statement against bed-sharing, that can cause harm, because instead of looking for safe ways of doing this, they just do it anyway and deny doing it," she said.

Rather, better advice was needed on how to sleep safely with babies.

Smoking was the risk factor, rather than the bed-sharing itself.

After falling out of favour in Victorian times, the practice had regained popularity in the West over the past 10 years, overseas studies showed.

Ministry of Health chief child health adviser Pat Tuohy said the ministry was not against bed-sharing providing there were no risk factors such as smoking, drinking, drugs or exhaustion, but took a cautious approach.

While recognising the benefits of boosted breastfeeding, it preferred to encourage people to put the baby in a bassinet next to their bed.


THE FIGURES

* Data on baby deaths linked to bed-sharing is patchy, says paediatrician Dr Barry Taylor, who is reviewing child death figures.

* He blames inadequate reporting by coroners.

* Statistics show that of 89 sudden infant deaths in 2002 and 2003, 16 were known to be sharing a bed.

* But in another 41 cases this information was not recorded. Nor was information about smoking or sleep positions.

- NZPA