A SCIENTIST has challenged traditional advice, aimed at preventing cot-deaths, that babies should not sleep alongside their mothers in the same bed.

After a two-year study involving North-East mothers and babies, researchers at Durham University have concluded that unhindered access between mother and baby was the best way to encourage breastfeeding in the first few days after birth.

Last night, Dr Helen Ball, the scientist who led the research, said new mothers should be allowed to share their hospital bed with their babies if they choose to do so.

Dr Ball said it was time to balance the risks posed by cot death against the lifelong benefits of breastfeeding.

But cot death charity the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths last night reiterated their advice that babies should not sleep in the same bed as their parents.

Dr Ball's research, which involved filming mothers and babies at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, over a two year period, is significant because it is the first to show how important it is for mothers to be physically close to their babies in the first few days after the birth.

The results revealed that babies sleeping in their mother's bed and in a sidecar crib alongside the bed made significantly more attempts to breastfeed than babies in a separate cot.

Cot death charity The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) currently advises new mothers that "the safest place for your baby to sleep is in a cot in your room for the first six months".

Dr Ball said: "There are a lot of hospitals which are very nervous about putting babies in bed with mum because of all the publicity about sharing.

"What we are saying is that there is a flip side to this. Putting them in a cot has some detrimental consequences, it is not a one-sided story."

However, if a mother was worried about the risks of suffocation, Dr Ball said the mother should ask the hospital to put their baby into a sidecar crib alongside the bed, which allows easy access between the mother and child, rather than in a separate cot.

The study found that although there was more potential risk to the baby's breathing when they slept in the bed than in the crib or the cot, there was still some danger in a cot due to the risk of airways being covered by clothes.

A spokeswoman for the FSID said: "Babies should sleep close to their parents, ideally within touching distance, to reduce the risk of cot death, but research shows that they should not sleep in the same bed as their parents, especially in the first three months after birth.

"Sidecar cribs may be a useful idea in a hospital ward, but it is not known whether these cribs can be safely used in the home. There are documented risks of accidental deaths associated with sleeping in the same bed as your baby, including suffocation and head injuries.

"This is why we recommend that the safest place for your baby to sleep is in a crib or cot in a room with you."

Sandra Place, 40, from Darlington, who has a month old son, William, said: "I totally agree with what the Durham researchers are saying. Skin on skin contact in the early stages is very important for breastfeeding."