Meconium by itself is unlikely to be the cause of sudden death within the first few minutes of an infant's life. The meconium is a sign of fetal stress: it is non-specific, and there are many causes of fetal stress that can cause the baby to pass meconium prior to birth.
If an autopsy was permitted, this can sometimes give the answer to why a baby died suddenly.
preliminary autopsy results show the baby could not be intibated because of the meconium the baby had swallowed. Hospital nurse was aware of the presense of
meconium prior to the babies heart beat dropping. If it is a sign of fetal stress,
wouldn't they need to do something imediatly? Instead of just waiting for the
heart beat to drop?