Deprived families suffer three quarters of cot deaths

The majority of cot deaths now affect babies from deprived families, a comprehensive 20-year study by the Royal Hospital for Children in Bristol shows. It found that figures for deaths in deprived families are now 74 per cent of the total, up from 47 per cent.

The number of sudden infant death syndrome cases that occur when a parent sleeps with their infant on a sofa has increased fourfold and the practice should be avoided, the research, published in medical journal The Lancet reports.

Overall deaths from the syndrome have fallen sharply following a 1991 campaign urging parents to put babies on their back to sleep.

Reasons for the rise in deaths when a parent sleeps with their infant on a sofa are unclear, said report author Peter Fleming.