Many thanks, Nick Andrews. Dr Jim Sprott is calling on the Ministry of Health to immediately endorse mattress-wrapping for cot death prevention, following the cot deaths last week of twin babies in Lower Hutt. That's why they both died, on the same mattress, within an hour of each other, even though they were healthy babies. These terribly sad deaths are further proof that cot death is caused by gaseous poisoning. Following the twins' death, Dr Pat Tuohy, Chief Advisor on Child Health at the Ministry of Health, stated his opinion that the twins could have been subjected to an adverse environmental factor at the same time.
Cot death is caused by environmental poisoning.
Dr Sprott said that over recent years he had provided Dr Tuohy with a considerable body of research which confirms and supports the toxic gas explanation for cot death. Dr Tuohy was present at the SIDS 2000 Conference when a scientific expert reported proof of toxic gas generation from sheepskins used as baby bedding. Dr Sprott stated that the death of the twins was entirely preventable. Dr Sprott will be contacting a Wellington lawyer regarding the possibility of group legal action by cot death parents who were not informed by babycare advisers about mattress-wrapping. In 1970 i gave birth to what, at the time, I was told was a stillbirth.