A look into infant deaths in one county shows that sharing the
bed with a baby is a deadly practice. It's not uncommon for
babies to share the bed with their parents, but that practice
can be deadly. Since 2005 in Santa Clara County in California,
41 babies have died from unsafe sleeping practices. About half
of those deaths were linked to bed sharing and only a fraction
of those cases involved parents who'd been using alcohol or
drugs. Dr. Michelle Jordan, Assistant Medical Examiner-Coroner,
uses dolls to help parents re-enact the circumstances that led
up to their child's death including where the baby was placed
and the location of surrounding pillows and bedding. "I've had
cases where infants have accidentally suffocated in soft
bedding, whether that's on an adult size bed or whether its in a
crib because the crib was just loaded with soft blankets and the
baby becomes entrapped face downs," said Jordan. Dr. Jordan says
other babies died after while sleeping on a couch or nursing
pillow and the problem is