By David Weber
An inquest into the death of a baby boy who suffered brain damage after nearly drowning in a Bumbo seat in the shower will examine safety around water.
The coronial inquest has been told the child, who died aged six months in January 2013, was left in the shower unsupervised for seven minutes.
The baby fell out of the seat, which then blocked the drain, allowing the shower cubicle to fill with water.
He was unresponsive when his mother found him, and she gave him CPR until paramedics arrived.
Paramedics took the boy to Joondalup Health Campus, where his heart was restarted.
But the boy had suffered irreversible brain damage and died with his parents by his side.
A post-mortem examination concluded the cause of death was bronchopneumonia and hypoxic brain injury following immersion, or near-drowning.
Bumbo seats previously recalled after safety concerns.
The court heard that leaving a child near water in a Bumbo seat was contrary to the advice of the manufacturer.
The seat did not have restraints or a harness.
Bumbo seats are made of low-density foam and are ideally used on flat surfaces to help babies sit up.
Over the past nine years, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Bumbo International in South Africa became aware of at least 50 incidents around the world where babies fell while seated on raised surfaces like tables and counters.
There were 21 reports of skull fractures.
In 2007, one million Bumbo seats were recalled to attach additional warning labels, cautioning against putting the seats on raised surfaces.
Top Comments
I'm glad the company now provides a harness. It must be near impossible to foresee such a thing happening; a seat that contributes to drowning? This must be why many well designed, good quality children's products are so expensive: the research and tests, and company insurance..
I can't comment on the seven minutes except to say, we don't know why the mother was away for that time. For all I know she could've been responding to an emergency with another of her children, having an epileptic episode or anything. No doubt she's going through hell, whatever the reason.
I can't believe people use these seats full stop. If the babies spine is not developed enough to hold them up on their own, is it a good idea to force it???