Calls for 'urgent action' on baby-sleep industry after investigation

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Calls for 'urgent action' on baby-sleep industry after investigationJust now Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleMarthe de Ferrer ,Amy JohnstonandDivya Talwar , News InvestigationsGetty ImagesThe UK's leading baby-safety charity and an MP have written to the health secretary calling for "urgent action" to regulate the infant-sleep industry, following a investigation. In the letter, the Lullaby Trust and Liberal Democrat Tom Morrison urge Wes Streeting to "ensure that no more babies' lives are put at risk due to unregulated and bogus sleep advice". Last week, an undercover report revealed how some self-described sleep experts have been giving new parents advice that goes against long-established safer sleep NHS guidelines.

Streeting said "dangerous misinformation dressed up as expert advice... must stop" and that parents should "only rely on trusted, evidence-based information" like the NHS Best Start in Life website. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said in March that the law would be changed to limit who was allowed to call themselves a nurse.

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This means people working in a hands-on capacity as night nannies would no longer be able to operate as "maternity nurses". An inquest into the death of football manager Steve Bruce's four-month-old grandson found that Madison Bruce Smith died after being placed to sleep on his front by someone calling themselves a maternity nurse. But many, including the Bruce Smith family, are calling for greater changes to be made by the DHSC and for urgent regulation for anyone working with infants.

Currently, there is no oversight or regulation of the industry - anyone can call themselves a baby-sleep expert or consultant regardless of experience or qualifications. As a result, people can sell advice to parents which could be putting babies at increased risk of harm - including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (Sids) - without consequence. Allow Instagram content?

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In their first statement since the inquest into their son's death, Madison Bruce Smith's family told the "no parent should ever have to question whether the person they have trusted to care for their baby is truly qualified. "Clear standards and accountability are essential, because so many children's lives depend on it. "The family say they want "all paid care for babies and infants" to be "properly regulated with mandatory training and strict adherence to national safer-sleep guidelines".

Morrison, MP for Cheadle, echoed these calls for broader and stricter regulation in his letter to Streeting.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.