A family has been left devastated after a premature baby boy died two months after his mum. Dexter Khan-Barnes died in his sleep at just two months old.
He was born on May 29 last year via emergency caesarean section when mum Laura Barnes suffered a devastating blood clot. Laura's mum Jennifer Barnes said she had suffered a stroke months earlier.
An inquest held on Wednesday, June 7, heard that no cause of death could be identified. He died in July last year, the coroner was told.
The hearing at Blackburn Old Town Hall in Lancashire heard from Mrs Barnes, who said her daughter only ever wanted to be a mum. She added that mum and son are now together having being robbed of the chance to meet in their lifetimes, reports LancsLive.
Baby Dexter was born at 32 weeks and spent around six weeks in the neonatal unit before being discharged with dad Shane Khan. The day before his death at his home in Rishton, near Accrington, Dexter was checked over by a nurse who visited the house and found him to be in good health.
That night, Mr Khan took him upstairs with two bottles ready for when he woke up in the night, as he had done the previous night. Dexter was placed in his father's bed, alongside his 14-month-old brother, with Mr Khan saying he started the night sleeping horizontally across the foot of the bed.
Summing up evidence from the investigation, coroner Richard Taylor said Mr Khan had moved to lay next to Dexter at around 4am and awoke again at around 5.30am. At that point, he thought it unusual that Dexter's arm was not moving as he normally would when hungry. He then noticed the baby's arms were floppy and his eyes discoloured.
Emergency services were called to the house and Dexter was rushed to the Royal Blackburn Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A post-mortem carried out by pathologist Dr William Simmons was unable to ascertain a cause of death and found no evidence of prior illness or injuries which could have contributed to it. Speaking during the inquest, Mrs Barnes said concerns were raised within the family over risks of co-sleeping.
Summarising Dr Simmons' evidence, Mr Taylor said: "In these circumstances, it is not possible to completely exclude accidental air obstruction as having caused to contributed to Dexter's death. As such, the cause of death remains unascertained."
Concluding, Mr Taylor said: "Dexter Khan-Barnes died on July 30, 2022, at Royal Blackburn Hospital having been found unresponsive at his home in the bed he shared with his brother."
