Thomas Cooper

Five-day-old Arabella Mayer died after her exhausted mother, Lydia Pass, unintentionally fell asleep while holding her following a difficult labour and blood loss. CPR briefly restored Arabella’s pulse, but scans showed irreversible brain injury and life support was withdrawn three days later. Medical experts said the cause could have involved suffocation, an undiagnosed genetic condition or unsafe sleeping. Staffordshire Police and the coroner found no evidence of intentional harm or neglect, describing the death as a tragic delayed sudden death in the context of unsafe sleeping.