Gemma Atkinson sparks fan concern as she shares photo of sleeping son

02 October 2023 , 13:28

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Gemma Atkinson has been flooded with messages from concerned fans over a picture of her baby son. The former Hollyoaks actress shared a sweet snap of little Thiago but fans were quick to point out an issue with the image.

She welcomed the tot with fiancé Gorka Márquez back in July, with the pair already sharing four-year-old daughter, Mia. Gemma regularly shares updates on the family with her two million Instagram followers, including workouts videos and insights to her daily routine.

But after posting a photo of Thiago meeting Gemma's friend and Planet Radio co-star Mike Toolan, some fans have shared a warning to the 38-year-old mum. The picture showed Thiago asleep in a brown basket while lying on his front.

Gemma joked in the caption: "When Thiago met Toolan! Tools came round today and he gently leaned over the sleeping beauty to a welcoming sound of wet fart. As usual Tools ate half the contents in the fridge and left with more food boxed up for his tea. Someone’s gotta look after him!"

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Gemma Atkinson was cruelly mum shamed over a picture of her sleeping son (glouiseatkinson/Instagram)

Taking to the comments, some social media users were quick to remind Gemma of the current safe sleep advice, which is that the safest sleep position for a baby is on their back or side.

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Safe sleep charity Lullaby Trust advises on their website: "The safest sleeping position for a baby is on their back so always place your baby on their back to sleep and not on their front or side.

Gemma was flooded with messages of concern from fans after she shared a photo of her son asleep on his front

"Sleeping your baby on their back (known as the supine position) for every sleep, day and night, is one of the most protective actions you can take to ensure your baby is sleeping as safely as possible.

"There is substantial evidence from around the world to show that sleeping your baby on their back at the beginning of every sleep or nap (day and night) significantly reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)."

One fan wrote: "Please put him to sleep on his back to prevent SIDS xxx" another added: "There was significant reduction in SIDS when the guidelines changed to put baby to sleep on back v front since the 90s.

"I fully respect any decision the parent makes (and some babies indeed hate being on their back). However the evidence does strongly recommend that babies are placed on their back - and Gemma has a large following so I don't see an issue with people expressing some concern."

Another person said: "Oh not sure about babies sleeping on their front, that could be quite dangerous." And a fourth wrote: "Since they introduced the advice to put babies to sleep on their back, the SIDS rate has dropped by 85 per cent."

Journalist and campaigner Anne Diamond spearheaded the Back To Sleep campaign, which she launched after the tragic death of her son Sebastian over 20 years ago.

Four-month-old Sebastian had been placed on his tummy to go to sleep, which was the advice from health professionals at the time. But, Anne began to investigate research into SIDS and discovered new research at the time, which found putting babies to sleep on their backs was a major factor in reducing infant mortality.

In 1989, before the campaign, there were 1,545 cases of SIDS this reduced to 647 in 1992, the year after the Back to Sleep campaign launched.

"It was one of the most successful public health campaigns ever," said chief executive of the Lullaby Trust Francine Bates told the BBC. "People did change their behaviour. It's so simple."