WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Baby Arabella Mayer, just five days old, died after her exhausted mum Lydia fell asleep holding her – a coroner ruled no neglect was involved
A teenage mum was left heartbroken after waking to discover her newborn baby had stopped breathing in her arms. Little Arabella Mayer lost her life in the early hours of June 17, 2025.
Her parents, 18-year-old Lydia Pass and Ryan Mayer, had brought Arabella into the world less than a week before. She had arrived at the Royal Stoke University Hospital on June 12. Arabella was brought home to the family’s Abbey Hulton residence shortly after.
Lydia and Ryan had settled down for the night around midnight after giving Arabella her feed and putting her down to sleep. They were roused at 3am when Arabella began crying. The devoted parents changed and fed Arabella before going back to bed, reports Stoke on Trent Live.
But Lydia came to while sitting in a chair at 5.45am with Arabella lying motionless in her arms. The devastated young mum had no memory of lifting Arabella up or drifting back off to sleep.
An inquest heard Lydia may have been battling anaemia-related fatigue following her harrowing three-day labour, during which she ‘lost pints of blood’.
Upon realising Arabella had stopped breathing, Lydia instantly sought assistance. Her brother dialled 999 and started administering CPR until paramedics turned up.
Emergency crews managed to restore Arabella’s pulse after she reached the Royal Stoke. But she had already been ‘clinically dead’ for approximately 50 minutes.
Dr Sukesh Mohta, a consultant at Royal Stoke’s paediatric intensive care unit, supervised Arabella’s treatment. He told the inquest: “The brain can only survive for around four or five minutes without oxygen. Anything longer than that is seriously concerning. Through CPR, we can try to maintain some kind of blood flow, but it’s nowhere near as effective as the heart pumping.
“Our first action was simply to prevent further injury. We employed neuro-protection. This involved placing her into an artificial coma to protect her brain. Then the hope is to take her off the support. But when we performed a brain scan the results were very poor.
“We had multiple difficult discussions with the family. It became clear that the situation was not survivable. The decision was made to withdraw life support on June 20.”
Paediatric Pathologist Marta Cohen suggested that Arabella could have suffocated either due to an undiagnosed genetic condition or because of the way she had drifted off to sleep.
She said: “We don’t know why she collapsed. Sudden unexpected death happens in infants under one year of age. It is where death is unexplained. It is very rare in children who are only a few days old.”
Detective Inspector Adam Goodyer, of Staffordshire Police’s child protection services, dismissed any suggestion of neglect. He said: “In my conclusion, it’s a very sad tragedy. Her exhausted mum had picked her up in the night to settle her and then fallen asleep with Arabella in her arms. There are no neglect issues here. She was very well cared for in a loving family. I extend my sincere condolences to them all.”
Coroner Lindsey Tonks concluded that Arabella had experienced a delayed sudden death in the context of unsafe sleeping. Ms Tonks stated: “Here we have two parents and an extended family who had got everything ready for their newborn. They had set up a lovely home for her to return to after a particularly difficult labour and birth. There were no health concerns in those first five days.
“The birth had taken a lot out of Arabella’s mum. That and the challenge of being a new mum had left her exhausted. She awoke to find Arabella unresponsive in her arms with no idea how she came to be there. Her mum did everything she could. Her family did everything they could to give her the best chance at survival.
“There was no evidence of anything being done intentionally or any indication of neglect. The police were very clear on that. The medical team were also very clear on that. I hope that can reassure the mum. There is no suggestion that she has done anything wrong.
“It is clear that this was a mum who had done all she could to try to provide a loving home for her daughter. This was a terribly tragic situation that no parent would ever want to experience. All I can do is offer my most sincere condolences to the family. This is a situation nobody ever wants to face. This was just a terrible, terrible tragedy.”
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