My 4 1/2 month old baby died on October 22, and the autopsy said the cause was Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy. He had respiratory problems ever since the day he was born, and he was congested the last month of his short life every day. I took him to the ER on September 22, and they said that he had an upper airway infection. He hadn't gotten any better a few weeks later, so I took him and my other 2 sons who are 3 and 5 years old to their Pediatrician. They were all congested, and she gave them all antibiotics and breathing machines. There was a lot of mold in the trailer that we were renting, and we told the landlord several times about over the 2 month period that we lived there. He didn't even attempt to do anything about it. How do I find out if mold contributed to my son's death? What does it show up as on the autopsy report or does it show up on the autopsy report? Is the landlord responsible for my son's death? Somebody please help me make some sense out of this terrible tragedy.

Hi lucky'smommy, I feel your sadness in this regard and I do appreciate that you would like to know if mold was the cause of your baby's untimely death. There have been many cases such as yours and the problem with the autopsy report could be that mold was not suspected, so testing for that would not have been done. Further testing can be done, with just cause, if your baby's body were to be exhumed.

I do understand though that in order to prove a mold death, the type of mold has to be identified, pictures documented.

I don't know what state you live in, all states have different laws but here is a website where a mold death was investigated an taken to court. I hope this helps.

Ex-tenants say mold caused ailments, death

If you cannot access url, please cut and paste to read.

Tick

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Originally Posted by lucky'smommy

"did my baby die because of mold?" The cops won't do anything.

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Hello mommy:

Sorry about your loss...

I'm not Scott, but the only way to tell what the cause of death was, is to have an autopsy performed.

excon

I would report this to the local District Attorney or Prosecutor's office. The fact that the landlord was told about the mold condition and did nothing might interest them for prosecution.

But the issue is going to be proof. And that may be hard to come by.

I am so sorry for your loss. I cannot fathom the pain you are feeling.

I'll try to help the best I can with what knowledge and education I have. Note that I am a newborn nursery and labor & delivery registered nurse.

Now, have you spoken with the coroner about the mold problem in your trailer? This should be your first start. The coroner should send a team to your home to assess the severity of the mold, as well as recreating the circumstances around the passing of your child.

You say that there were respiratory problems, that could have been caused by the mold, but by H1N1 (Swine Flu) as well. Was H1N1 ruled out?

Also, what sort of things were in her crib? Blankets? Toys? A pillow?

What position did he sleep in? Did you put her on his back to sleep? It is VERY important to put your baby "back to sleep."

Other avenues for you to try would be your local health department. See if they have a health inspector to come out and inspect the trailer. Since you rent, you should also contact your local codes inspector. Your trailer my not be up to code since there is mold.

SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) as well as SUID (Sudden Unexplained Infant Death) can be very difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of death, sometimes impossible.

Your first step though should be the coroner to see if they can recreate the situation in which you found your baby. Sometimes, however, the reason is better left unknown. What I mean by that is that if you had a pillow in the crib and your baby slept on the belly, then you would feel guilty for the rest of your life if this were to be ruled the final cause of death.

Again, I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you find peace in your life.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello mommy:

Sorry about your loss...

I'm not Scott, but the only way to tell what the cause of death was, is to have an autopsy performed.

excon

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They had an autopsy done, and in an infant death one is always done, but unless they knew what 'specific' they were looking for, they would not have spotted damage in the respiratory system from 'mold' which could mean 50 different types of mold. It has to be reported to the coroner that it was a possible mold related death for them to actually look for that in the autopsy, and then it has to proven, very difficult to do.

Tick

This was such an interesting thread, I wonder what's going on with the OP. She hasn't been back on yet.

Tick