Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine claim that the vast majority of second infant deaths in families who have already suffered the sudden loss of a baby are due to natural causes.
Controversy over mothers accused of murdering their babies was heightened after Angela Cannings's conviction for killing her two sons was quashed on appeal, leading to hundreds of other cases being reviewed.
Now a massive study following thousands of families after a sudden unexpected and unexplained infant death has revealed that second deaths are not rare and eight out of 10 are most likely due to natural causes.
Professor Robert Carpenter who led the study said "Although child abuse is not uncommon, from the best available data, we believe that the occurrence of a second or third sudden unexpected death in infancy within a family, although relatively rare, is in most cases from natural causes”.
