3-month-old boy suffocated in 'unsafe sleep situation'

The province's child death review committee is calling for a public awareness campaign on bed-sharingafter a three-month-old boy was suffocated by accident.

The boy, who was "receiving services" from child protection workers,is at least the third child to die as a result of "an unsafe sleep situation" since 2014.

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He is one of four children known tothe Department of Social Development to have died recently, according to recommendations released on Thursday by the child death review committee.

The committeereviews the deaths of children who were known to the Department of Families and Children.

This is the first timethe committee has revealed the ages of the children and how they died. In the past, the recommendations didn't provide any details about how a child died and were often written in vague language.

The provincial government promised that would change this past December, following a CBC News investigation called The Lost Children.

Although the committee provided additional details this time, it didn't describe the unsafe sleeping situation that led to the three-month-old's death.

• FULL COVERAGE: The Lost Children

Recommendations made before

On at least two other occasions, the committee has made similar recommendations about unsafe sleeping arrangements.

In 2014, the committee called for social workers to reinforce the dangers of unsafe sleep surfaces, such as couches, for infants and children.

And before parents take home a newborn baby,hospital staff shouldtalk to themabout the dangers of bed-sharing, the committee suggested.

That same year, then-Social Development MinisterMadeleineDubsaid social workers would reinforce the message with its clients.

Child protection standards were updated to make sure social workers review where children are sleeping.

But that doesn't seem to be working.

• Explainer: How New Brunswick's child death review committee works

The committee suggests the province's acting chief medical officer of health consider developing television or radio ads to educate the public "on the subject of bed-sharing and inappropriate sleep surfaces, as it is apparent that the printed literature is not having the desired effect in preventing child deaths of this nature."

Norm Boss, the province's child, youth and seniors advocate, agrees with the recommendation.

He's not sure why past campaigns on the dangers of bed-sharing haven't been effective.

"I would think [parents are] just not careful, they're not educating themselves," he said.

He said parents should be especially wary if they're taking medication that could make them drowsy and put them at risk of rolling over the child and suffocating them.

"There are risk factors that they should be aware of," he said. "Those factors really increase the chance of harm to the child."

Bosshas also asked the chief coroner for up-to-date figures on the number of children who have died as a result of unsafe sleeping situations. He suspects the number is higher than three.

Paul Bradley, a spokesman for the Department of Health, said the acting chief medical officer of health is reviewing the recommendation.

3 children died of natural causes

Three other deaths reported by the child death review committee were a result of natural causes.

A 12-year-old girl died as a result of complications of "a rare natural genetic disorder."

An eight-year-old girldied from complications of a congenital cerebral condition, while a six-month-old boy's death was caused by complications of myotubular myopathy, a genetic muscular disorder.

All three were receiving services for children with disabilities from the Department of Social Development. The committee didn't make any recommendations stemming from their deaths.

At least 23children died from unnatural causes between 2010 and 2016, according to figures from the child death review committee. Twelve of those deaths were deemed accidents.