A child at An Giang Hospital in An Giang Province. VNA/VNS.Photo Công mạo

HCM CITY— Doctors at HCM City’s Children’s Hospital 1 could not save the life of a six-month-old baby that fell into the gap between the mattress and the wall and was brought lifeless.

Dr Đinh Tấn Phương, head of the hospital’s emergency department, said doctors tried in vain for an hour to revive the child on the morning of November 3.

The baby had been sleeping next to his parents at home in District 8. At 4.am his father gave him a bottle of milk and the baby went back to sleep. His mother went to have breakfast and then to the market.

At around 7:00 a.m, when the father woke up, he found the baby stuck in the gap between the mattress and the wall. He hurriedly examined the baby, whose whole body had turned purple and was motionless, and rushed him to the hospital.

Phương said parents should be careful when they co-sleep with their babies, paying attention to a possible gap between the bed and the wall, even if it is small, since young children could turn over and get stuck in that small gap and asphyxiate.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations, babies should always sleep alone, on their back and in a crib.

“Infants should be placed for sleep in a supine position (wholly on the back) for every sleep by every caregiver until the child reaches 1 year of age.  Side sleeping is not safe and is not advised.”  VNS