Another co-sleeping death (Milwaukee, Neva, King: apartment, income, living)

[zacscott77]

City health officials launch safe-sleep campaign as another infant is found dead - JSOnline

This is just unbelievable, especially with all the media attention surrounding co-sleeping deaths recently. I cannot believe this mother said, "It's what a mother does."

You are correct ma'am - a terrible mother.

[Milwaukee City]

Call me cynical but I think some of these parents I'm mean turds are killing their babies on purpose.

[just1paul]

Why? They want all the fun of making the baby but want no responsibility and do not want to use birth control?

[EastSideMKE]

Originally Posted by just1paul

Why? They want all the fun of making the baby but want no responsibility and do not want to use birth control?

Did you even read the article? What does birth control have to do with anything? How was she avoiding responsibility? This isn't just a forum to unleash your hatred for minorities and poor single mothers, please at least try to be relevant to the topic being discussed so you don't come off like such a buffoon.

Back on topic, I think it's terrible that all 4 of her children had to share the same room with their mother. However, I'd be willing to bet she can't afford a 3 or 4 bedroom apartment for each of her kids to have there own room. Nearly 1/3 of all Milwaukeeans live below the poverty line, please keep that in mind before you go passing judgment on your fellow citizens.

[zacscott77]

I agree with you jjacobeclark. I volunteer in the inner city with less than fortunate families and children and a lot of these people have absolutely nothing.

This does not mean, however, that any of these parents should get a free pass. There are cribs available for next to nothing everywhere. There is absolutely no excuse for any infant to sleep with their parents. This is just basic, basic common sense. Not to mention the inclusion of alcohol in the situation.

[Concrete]

Perhaps if one cannot afford a 2-3 bedroom apartment, one should not have 2-3 children.

[Coldwake]

Poverty has little to do with this... people of all income levels co-sleep with their children. The common factor around these deaths is simple. In the article it says she "told investigators she played cards and drank two beers before going to bed with her children." Yeah... it's always "two" beers. ok, I believe that one. The mothers of every single one of these deaths were DRINKING the night that the incident happened.

Also, as for not affording a large apartment or a crib for the children to sleep in, read on in the article: "Parents unable to afford a crib a can obtain a Pack'n Play bassinet from such programs as the Milwaukee Nurse-Family Partnership. For information, call the city Health Department at (414) 286-8620."

This mother HAD one of these bassinets but CHOSE not to have the child sleep in it.

[Joy12345]

I'm with you Milwaukee City, I too think it's being done on purpose. If you are a poor single mother, DON'T HAVE ANYMORE! And the mothers in these situations are drinking? What happened to breastfeeding? I certainly hope the outrage would be just as much if these mothers were NOT minorities.

[just1paul]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

Did you even read the article? What does birth control have to do with anything? How was she avoiding responsibility? This isn't just a forum to unleash your hatred for minorities and poor single mothers, please at least try to be relevant to the topic being discussed so you don't come off like such a buffoon.

Back on topic, I think it's terrible that all 4 of her children had to share the same room with their mother. However, I'd be willing to bet she can't afford a 3 or 4 bedroom apartment for each of her kids to have there own room. Nearly 1/3 of all Milwaukeeans live below the poverty line, please keep that in mind before you go passing judgment on your fellow citizens.

DID YOU READ the article? officials announced a citywide safe-sleep campaign Monday, yet another mother mourned the loss of an infant who died while sharing a bed with an adult.
"It is, truly, a parent's worse nightmare," Mayor Tom Barrett said during a news conference.
Behind the mayor was a larger-than-life poster of a cozy bed, its pillows puffy and soft, but its headboard replaced by a tombstone.
Engraved in the stone:
"For too many babies last year, this was their final resting place."
Africa Shaw woke to her nightmare Christmas morning. The lips of her 6-week-old daughter, Nevaeh, were blue. Her lifeless body was already cold.
"It didn't seem like real," Shaw said Monday, sitting on a couch in the living room of her north side apartment.
"It seemed like I was dreaming. I knew I would wake up."
Shaw, 27, told investigators she fed Nevaeh on Thursday evening and then placed the infant on a baby blanket on Shaw's queen-size bed. She covered the baby with a loosely knit baby blanket. Shaw slept with two pillows and a sheet. Her 2-year-old son, who slept at the foot of the bed, was covered with a blanket, according to a medical examiner's report.
Shaw told investigators that her 10-year-old son slept on the carpeted floor at the foot of her bed and her 6-year-old daughter slept on the floor beside the bed. Shaw, who according to the report is employed as a certified day-care teacher, told investigators she played cards and drank two beers before going to bed with her children.
"I have slept with all my children," Shaw said. "Everybody sleeps with their kids."
While co-sleeping with an infant is common, Commissioner of Health Bevan Baker said, it is a practice that must stop.
"The safest place for a baby to sleep," he said, "is in their own crib - not an adult bed."
Babies should sleep on their backs, with no pillows, bumper pads, blankets or toys, he said.
This message, Baker said, will be repeated on billboards, print advertisements and radio spots in the months to come.
While information for 2009 was not available, Baker quoted data from the state Department of Health and Family Services showing that the total number of infants who died in Milwaukee increased from 111 in 2007 to 120 in 2008. Milwaukee's infant mortality rate increased from 9.8 per 1,000 live births in 2007 to 10.7 in 2008.
The major cause of death was from premature birth complications. The percentage of such deaths jumped from 45% in 2007 to 54% in 2008.
The number of deaths related to unsafe sleep environments dropped, from 31 in 2007 to 16 in 2008. On average, 23 infants a year have been killed in sleep-related incidents since 2001.
"These deaths are all preventable," Baker said.
"One infant death is one infant death too many, especially when we know there are ways to prevent these tragedies," Baker said.
Parents unable to afford a crib a can obtain a Pack'n Play bassinet from such programs as the Milwaukee Nurse-Family Partnership. For information, call the city Health Department at (414) 286-8620.
Shaw owns a Pack'n Play. She said she slept with her child not out of necessity, but out of choice.
"It's what a mother does," she said.
Baker said, "We recognize there are cultural concerns. But we must also recognize that these are leading to tragic consequences."
.

I was not passing judgement, each kid does not need their own room. but SHE OWNS A CRIB. You calling me a buffoon merely reflects on yourself.

[EastSideMKE]

Originally Posted by Concrete

Perhaps if one cannot afford a 2-3 bedroom apartment, one should not have 2-3 children.

She's 27 with a 10 year old son. How responsible were you at age 17?