Cot death claims twin tots at once

By BRIDGET CARTER and NZPA

A pair of 3-month-old identical twin sisters have died from cot death at the same time.

Tiari Tipani Weston and her twin, Ariana Karlota Weston, were found dead in their cots at their Lower Hutt home on Tuesday morning.

A professor of paediatrics and child health at the Otago Medical School, Barry Taylor, said about 60 cases of simultaneous twin deaths had been reported internationally over the past 40 years. Once one twin died there was a big risk the other would die too.

Professor Taylor said it was not known why twins died at the same time. Genetic conditions such as heart problems could be associated with cot death.

The chief adviser for child and youth health at the Ministry of Health, Dr Pat Tuohy, said one of the only explanations he could think of was that the twins had been exposed to the same environmental factors at the same time.

Factors that increased the risk of cot death included a baby sleeping on its tummy, the mother smoking during or after pregnancy or sharing a bed with the baby if she was a smoker, and general living conditions.

Why these were contributors was unknown. "We know smoking increases the risk of cot death," Dr Tuohy said.

For smoking, one theory was that nicotine affected the baby's ability to react to stress by altering the receptors in its brain. "There are about 40 theories, but it is clearly to do with smoking and the environment."

Police said there was nothing suspicious about the deaths.

The twins were farewelled at a funeral service yesterday following a tangi at the Stokes Valley Koraunui Marae.