A grieving mother has described the heartbreaking moment her baby daughter died in her arms at just 51 days old.
Ava-Rose Dean's death remains unexplained after her parents found her unresponsive while she was sleeping in Sara Collington's arms in September 2020.
An inquest held in Plymouth heard the youngster suffered no physical injuries and there were no suspicious circumstances following her death which was put down to natural causes, Plymouth Live reports.
Ava-Rose had been suffering with a snuffly nose on September 18 2020, and wasn't settling at night so her mother sat in a dining room chair holding her in her arms.
The baby was alert for her 4am feed from dad Creighton Dean, 28.
But tragically when he came in to wake them at 9am he found Ava Rose unresponsive in Sara's arms.
The parents immediately called paramedics who arrived at their house in Plymouth, swiftly followed by police, and tried to resuscitate Ava-Rose, without success.
She was then taken to Derriford Hospital where she was pronounced dead, though the coroner recorded the place of death as her home.
The coroner added that the death was likely the result of a “number of events” including having a cold and being born prematurely.
Although she was sleeping with her mother in a chair, this was not given as the cause of death.
Forensic pathologist Dr Russell Delaney carried out the post mortem and told the inquest there were no external or internal injuries which contributed to the death.
He added there were no pathological circumstances that would suggest Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, sometimes called “cot death”.
Dr Carolyn Adcock, a paediatrician who saw Ava-Rose when she arrived at the hospital, explained it is believed Ava-Rose caught a cold from a school-aged sibling, but ruled out Covid.
She added: “We know Ava-Rose had a cold, that may have been a factor, but not the cause. The common cold would not have been seen as an adequate cause. But it may have affected her breathing and made her warmer.
"It’s likely a combination of very unfortunate circumstances that has led to Ava-Rose’s very sad death.”
Turning to the parents, she said: “And I know how sad you still are about that.”
She supported the view that the death was unexplained.
DC Paul Hodgson, from the police public protection team, told the inquest: "There is no explanation for the cause of death of Ava-Rose. She displayed no external or internal signs of injury or abnormality.
"Her parents were asleep at the time of Ava-Rose's death. They were the last to see her alive and the first to find her.”
