A mum from England has been left heartbroken, after she accidentally smothered her seven week old baby in her sleep.
Shelby Sands, from Norfolk, fell asleep while she was bottle feeding her baby daughter Deleilah in the early hours of July 3, 2016.
The 19-year-old mum woke to find her baby face down at the bottom of the bed the following morning.
Resuscitation attempts by her next door neighbour, who is a nurse, and paramedics, were unsuccessful.
Norfolk Area Coroner Yvonne Blake was sympathetic to grieving mother Shelby, telling her in court: “Everyone accepts it is a terrible tragedy, particularly for you. You would not have done it, if you thought it would happen.”
“All parents have had moments, where if you could go back in time, you would change it. Clearly there was no malice or intention. It was just a terrible tragedy.”
Addressing media after the hearing, Sands urged other mums to “think again” before feeding their babies in bed, and shared her grief over the loss.
“I will never forget Deleilah. She will always be in our hearts.”
On the night before Delilah’s death. Shelby and her partner Wezley had attended a VW rally in a nearby town. Arriving home at around 1.30am, Shelby took Delilah to bed to give her a feed.
In the morning, her sister Abby, who had been babysitting the child the previous night, woke her sister to find the baby at the end of the bed.
Sands has a two-year-old son, Deacon, and is expecting another child this year.
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