A tragic baby was found to have cocaine, painkillers and antidepressants in her stomach after she died in the care of her drug taking parents.
The six-month-old tot died suddenly in 2013 after being allowed to go home with her parents, following a lengthy stay in hospital after being born prematurely.
It is not known how the drugs got into the baby's stomach and, according to a report, they were not linked to her death.
The review, by the Liverpool Safeguarding Children Board, called for a host of “lessons to be learned” after agencies fell short in sharing information that could have highlighted the baby’s vulnerability.
But the independent report also said it was impossible to tell if the death of baby Mary – not her real name – could have been avoided.
According to the Liverpool Echo , chairman Howard Cooper said: “Predicting the likelihood of such an outcome for a vulnerable baby is difficult to achieve with any meaningful degree of accuracy.
“It cannot be inferred that child Mary’s death was preventable, but there are lessons to be learned for all the agencies involved with this family about multi-agency working.”
Mary was the youngest child in a family of four, born to a mum aged 30 and dad aged 33. At the time of her death, her siblings were aged one, eight and 10.
She was born into a backdrop of concerns of over domestic violence, alcohol abuse and child neglect.
Both parents were known to social services, and the family came to the attention of the children’s social care unit, Careline, five times between 2008 and 2012.
Her siblings’ school raised concerns that the two eldest children were truant, overweight and left to look after their baby brother, while their parents stayed in bed.
Mary was born 12 weeks early at Alder Hey in January 2013 and diagnosed with a number of medical conditions, including a heart murmur.
She was kept in hospital for three months during which time there were “several consecutive days” in which she had no contact with her parents.
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