Cot linked to asphyxiation death of baby girl is ‘still a danger’, says heartbroken mum
Little Grace was just seven-weeks-old when she died - with her mother saying she was left 'tortured'
A MOTHER has spoken of feeling "tortured"; after her seven-week-old baby died after being put down for a nap in a crib.
Little Grace Roseman died after being put to sleep face down for a nap in a secondhand Bednest crib - with warnings now issued that more tragedies could unfold if nothing is done.
Speaking ahead of the inquest into her baby girl's death, mum Esther Roseman, 39, said: "On April 9, 2015 at 10.39am, our beautiful baby, Grace, who was just seven weeks old, was pronounced dead.
"She had managed to get her neck over the edge of the folding side of the NCT Bednest crib. Grace died of asphyxiation; her brain was starved of oxygen.
"Immediately following Grace's tragic death, as her mother, I felt nothing but guilt, self-blame, shame and judged. I felt tortured that I didn't have the choice of ending my life because I could not be that selfish to my family."
She said the grief that both she and her husband Gideon, a barrister, experienced had been made worse by Bednest and the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) refusing to admit that the cot was responsible for their daughter's death.
Devastated mum Esther wrote: "When it first happened, I had some sympathy for Bednest, assuming it too would be mortified and remorseful. Unfortunately, the company does not appear to believe that the design of the cot caused Grace's death.
"I urge any parent with one in their loft, with the original set of instructions, to throw the cot and instructions away.
"In my opinion, the huge secondhand market for cots such as Bednest remains worrying and dangerous. Instructions and the modification kit will likely have been lost and many people will be unaware of the dangers."
The cot has since been recalled in Canada and America but there has been no official notice issued in the UK.
Instead, Bednest sent two screws and a screwdriver to all those registered as having bought the cot, asking them to fix it.
In April 2014, the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) issued a press release reassuring parents that there was "no evidence of any fault with the cot".
This reassurance remained on its website until November 2015.
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Jill Greenfield, the Roseman's lawyer and a partner at Fieldfisher, said: "The death of a child is every parent's worst nightmare and I cannot begin to imagine the pain caused to this family.
"Unfortunately that pain has been made worse by the lack of clear answers and the continuing feeling that they were at fault in some way.
"Early suggestions put into the press, for example, indicated that the family had used the wrong mattress. That was wrong. They used the correct mattress. The problem was and is that young babies develop at different rates. Everyone who has a child knows that a baby can have sudden movements."
Immediately following Grace's tragic death, as her mother, I felt nothing but guilt, self-blame, shame and judged. I felt tortured that I didn't have the choice of ending my life because I could not be that selfish to my family
Esther Roseman
She said that the evidence gathered had suggested that the little girl's death had been caused by the lowered height of the Bednest cot.
She said: "Bednest have made clear that they do not accept that the cot was in any way to blame. The coroner's inquest will, it is hoped, give this family some answers but it is a terrible and shocking thing to have happened and answers will never be enough to resolve their pain."
Mark Green, managing director of Bednest, said: "The term 'recall' covers a wide range of corrective actions, and, in this case, it comprised an easy-to-use self-modification kit that was issued to Bednest users, promoted on the website, through social channels and press to reach anyone who potentially borrowed a crib and might not, therefore, be on our customer database.
"We also monitored and continue to monitor, all second-hand sales of Bednest cribs online, alerting the vendors."
An investigation revealed unmodified cribs could pose a hazard as babies could move onto or over the side of the crib when the it was folded in a half-raised position.
Manufacturer Bednest Ltd quickly urged customers to send off for modification kits to remove the risk of suffocation - but an unmodified and "potentially dangerous" version of the crib was found in an East Grinstead charity shop.
West Sussex Coroner Penelope Schofield earlier this year gave Grace's provisional cause of death as asphyxia ahead of a full inquest.
What West Sussex County Council said
While Bednest Ltd. is monitoring second hand online sales, some cribs are still finding their way onto the second-hand market in an unmodified state and potentially without proper instructions on not leaving the baby unattended with the sides folded down.
This is of serious concern.
West Sussex County Council's Trading Standards urge anyone who has bought or is selling a Bednest crib to check it has had the modification and updated instructions by going to the Bednest website.
Officers are writing to all second-hand and charity shops in the county alerting them to the fact that only those cribs with the modification and current instructions can be sold.
The crib from the shop in East Grinstead has been removed from sale and is now with Trading Standards.
A spokesperson from Bednest Ltd said: "As detailed by West Sussex County Council, as a precautionary measure, Bednest made available a modification kit to address the concern raised by some experts in relation to the height of lowered side panels of bedside cribs.
"The modification kit has been made widely available and we welcome any efforts to widen the communication of its availability as well as the latest User Guide.
"This includes efforts in respect of second hand sales.
"Indeed Bednest has advised the Charity Retail Association of the availability of the modification kit and requested that they assist us in communicating to their many thousands of members.
"Anyone requiring a modification kit can find details of how to request one on the website www.bednest.com/FAQs and they can also download the latest User Guide."
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