I called the coroner's office today and spoke at length with the assistant
pathologist, who did the autopsy on the 7-month old. He told me that the
parents had been drinking heavily. He's not at all concerned that people
sleep with their children, just as long as they are sober and not stoned. It
was nearly closing time, and he promised to meet with the director Monday to
relay my concerns and find out what was said to the newspaper reporter, and
thinks it possible that the director was misquoted. He was aware of the
article in Pediatrics about covert smothering, and took my concerns very
seriously and cordially.

While I was on the phone, I also urged his office to collect feeding status
of all children under two years old who die, since our state does not yet
require collection of that data.

I probably won't post again on this subject on Lactnet because it's not
directly breastfeeding related, and may be a non-issue soon. I hope.

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre
Dayton, OH USA
http://www.bflrc.com