Metro

Most city infants die in their sleep from parental neglect: study

A shocking new Health Department study suggests that most city infants die in their sleep as a result of parental neglect.

A total of 480 babies under the age of 1 died from injuries between 2004 and 2011, according to Health Department statistics.

And 386 of those babies — or 80 percent — died while sleeping under “unsafe circumstances,” such in the bed of adults or siblings, a department analysis of the stats showed.

The study, which reviewed death certificates and medical-examiner reports, raises questions about whether many infant deaths are preventable.

“Common environmental factors found in sleep-related infants’ deaths included: sleeping in an adult bed, excessive bedding, sharing a bed with another sleeper and sleep positions other than on the infant’s back,” the study said.

Nearly three quarters — 72 percent — of babies were not sleeping in their own crib or bassinet.

There are plenty of recent examples of suffocation tragedies.

A Brooklyn mom last year accidentally rolled over in bed and suffocated her newborn.

An 11-year-old Bronx girl who fell asleep also accidentally rolled over and suffocated her newborn sister in 2013.

The death rate for the infants was highest among blacks and in The Bronx and high-poverty neighborhoods, according to the study.