Inquest documents reveal the tragedy of an 11-week-old baby who died in his mother’s arm surrounded by squalor

A teenage mother woke to the cold weight of her dead 11-week-child on her arm. Since then her life has been under the microscope of an inquest – here for the first time are her words.

A struggling teenage mother whose child died in her arms while in squalid conditions was co-sleeping with the infant because she was worried he would stop breathing, inquest documents reveal.

The mother, who had her first child at 15, was the subject to almost two dozen notifications to Child Protection authorities, but many of those were closed with no action due to resourcing issues.

In an affidavit written by the mother, who cannot be identified due to suppressions designed to protect the surviving children, and released by the Coroner’s Court, she explained for the first time circumstances leading up to her 11-week-old infant’s death.

The mother wrote that when she was pregnant with the child she would smoke 10 to 15 cigarettes a day.

The child was born at a rural hospital in September 2018 following a three-hour labour, but stayed in hospital for two days with health concerns.

Screenshots of a video from SA Police, showing the home in which the baby died. Picture: SA Police

For weeks after he was born, the mother flushed the baby’s sinuses with saline to help him breath. When he was two-and-a-half weeks old, the baby developed a viral respiratory tract infection which would last for the rest of his short life.

“His symptoms included heavy breathing, when he was sleeping he would gasp for air, he would have coughing fits and his lips would turn blue, and he had an audible crackling sound when he was breathing,” the mother wrote.

The infant was admitted to hospital on several occasions and was prescribed antibiotics with a follow-up appointment booked later in the day of his death.

On November 29, 2018, the mother, her teenage friend, the infant and his two siblings went to bed on a fold-out bed in the living room of the house.

“(My baby’s) breathing determined whether I had him sleeping in his cot next to my bed or in my bed with me so I could monitor him better,” the mother wrote.

“I woke up at about 3.45am anticipating he would wake up for his 4am bottle.

Screenshots of a video from SA Police, showing the home in which the baby died. Picture: SA Police

“I felt that my arm was cold. I looked at (him) and he was very pale so I put my hand on his forehead and felt that he was cold.

“I screamed and immediately grabbed my phone and dialled 000 for an ambulance.”

The mother sent a text to the child’s father, who did not live with them, saying “ring me as soon as you get this, it’s an emergency”.

In a separate affidavit the father confirmed the child had breathing issues since he was born.

“When I got to the house I saw two ambulance vehicles out the front of the house,” he wrote. “I ran around the back of the house and found (the child’s mother). She was sitting there crying.

“She said that he had stopped breathing and kept asking for her mum.”

The child’s maternal grandmother wrote in her affidavit that ever since the child was born “he’s always been sick”.

“He always seemed to have a cough and a sniffle, as though he had trouble breathing,” she said. “He was a happy baby though.”

The state of the family home, which photos and video revealed was in extreme squalor, has been probed as part of an inquest into the child’s death.

Screenshots of a video from SA Police, showing the home in which the baby died. Picture: SA Police

However, the infant’s grandmother wrote that her daughter had made it clear that she would raise the children herself and the state of the house fluctuated.

“I saw the state of (her) house the day (the infant died) and it was really bad,” she said.

“I’ve never seen the house that messy before. I would generally describe her house as being lived in. There may have been mess around and things on the floor, but you could still see the floor.

“There have been times when the house has been sparkling clean too, but I think things must have got out of hand before (his) death”.

She said her daughter had disengaged with services because she was sick of people coming to her house and telling her how to raise her children.

The grandmother said she saw the baby the day before he died. “I remember him being happy,” she said. “He had a little bit of a cough but actually seemed to be breathing a bit better than normal.”

The mother was charged with three counts of failing to provide for her children for the state of the house at the time of the child’s death.

She was not charged with criminal neglect, which would require a level of intent or awareness that there was a risk to the children.

She pleaded guilty and was convicted of those charges.

The grandmother said her daughter was sometimes subject to mood swings and had suffered depression.

“I think social media played a big role in her mental health, with all the drama which comes with that,” she said.

The inquest has heard that the Department had received 23 notifications that children were at risk in the home.

The inquest continues.