An Ohio woman was charged with involuntary manslaughter after her second baby died from 'co-sleeping.' Experts say infants face a higher risk of sleep-related death when new parents share a bed them.

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An Ohio woman was charged with involuntary manslaughter after her second baby died from 'co-sleeping.' Experts say infants face a higher risk of sleep-related death when new parents share a bed them.
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  • Prosecutors said Brooke Hunter's 6-month-old baby died as a result of co-sleeping practices.
  • Hunter was warned of the dangers of co-sleeping after the death of her first baby a year ago, prosecutors allege.
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A mother in Cincinnati, Ohio, is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter and endangering children after prosecutors say her baby died as a result of "co-sleeping."

Brooke Hunter was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday after her 6-week-old daughter died on June 22 after co-sleeping with her, Amy Clausing, an Assistant Prosecutor at the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office, told local news outlet WCPO-9.

According to the outlet, Hunter was warned of the dangers of sharing a bed with her infant a year ago after the death of her first child. Because she was warned the second child's death was considered a homicide, Clausing told WCPO-9.

In a recent June statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics said it does not recommend bedsharing, a form of co-sleeping, under any circumstances.

Infants are five to ten times more at risk of sleep-related death when new parents bed share with infants younger than four months old, according to the statement.

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According to the AAP, 3500 infants die annually in the United States from sleep-related infant deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed.

The AAP added that the highest rates of infant sleep-related deaths occur within the first six months.

"It is recommended that infants sleep in the parents' room, close to the parent's bed, but on a separate surface designed for infants, ideally for at least the first 6 months," the release added.

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