Born into Care : International Perspectives on the Removal of Babies at Birth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Abbott, Laura.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (313 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Bristol : Policy Press, 2026.

Summary:

This book draws together leading scholars, practitioners and mothers with lived experience to confront the contentious and often hidden practice of infant removal at birth. The first edited collection of its kind, it offers a powerful examination of the legal, ethical and political frameworks that underpin this practice.

Contents:

Front Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

List of figures and tables

Notes on contributors

Foreword

Introduction: rethinking the removal of infants at birth

Beyond the case: contextualising infant removals in structural inequality

Re-​framing the debate and connecting globally

Contributors: standpoint(s), political solidarities, and critical praxis

Scope and aspiration

Methodological approaches

Organisation of the collection

Part I: Infant removals at birth: assessment and decision-​making

Part II: Infant removals at birth: justice, representation, and rights

Part III: Infant removals at birth: Indigenous communities and strategies of resistance

Concluding the collection:​ an agenda for change

Preparing readers for distressing content

A note on terminology

References

Part I Infant removals at birth: assessment and decision-​making

1 The removal of infants at birth in the US: anticipating harm in newborn baby cases

Introduction

Thousands of babies enter foster care every year without proof that they were abused

Constitutional overview

Babies often enter foster care under a theory of anticipatory neglect

When and how families are flagged to CPS: birth match and hospital staff

CPS investigation: grounds for removal and court jurisdiction

Adjudication of child removal proceedings in court

Policy concerns

Anticipatory neglect removals, especially at birth, frustrate the core tenets of due process

Disparate treatment of marginalised people

Birth match, surveillance, and the resulting destruction of community bonds

Looking forward: establishing a better framework

Establishing a stronger, more comprehensive right to counsel

Strengthening the requirements of the child removal process

Conclusion

References.

2 Newborn babies, family preservation, and the role of the Guardian ad Litem: cradled by the system or harmed in haste?

Theoretical orientation

Infants and newborn babies in care proceedings in England and Wales

The legal status of the unborn child

Limited and discretionary practices of family support in pregnancy

The role of Guardians ad Litem and the challenge of care proceedings at birth

Methodology

Ethical approvals

Findings

Status of the unborn baby

Ability to exercise the duties of the Guardian ad Litem

Local authority and Guardian relationships under pressure

A lack of mother and baby placements cuts short fuller assessment and support

Note

3 Even-​handed treatment? Voluntary and compulsory routes into care for infants in Wales

Voluntary and compulsory routes into care: scope of the international literature

Voluntary and compulsory routes into care: the legal context

Care proceedings

Emergency protection orders

Voluntary arrangements

Voluntary and compulsory routes into care: what can we learn from relevant case law?

Advancing knowledge for Wales

Data source and methods

Infants entering care in Wales (2003 - 21)

Infants entering care in Wales under different legal routes (2003 - 21)

Local authority variation in the use of voluntary arrangements in Wales (2003 - 21)

Category of need

Conversion from voluntary to compulsory arrangements

Placement outcomes for infants entering care in Wales (2003 - 19)

Follow-​up over two years

Placement stability for infants entering care in Wales (2003 - 19)

Final recommendations

4 Newborn removals in Norway: contested decisions in a changing policy landscape

Introduction.

The Norwegian child protection system and international obligations

Newborn care order proceedings: general legal framework

Current child protection legislation concerning newborns

A heightened evidentiary threshold for newborn removals

Process and characteristics of newborn care order cases: empirical findings

Data sources and methods

Typical case trajectory

Case characteristics

Tribunal decision-​making outcomes and contact arrangements in newborn care orders

Legal criteria and threshold

Parent and child risk factors and futures

System features shape services

Norwegian responsiveness to the ECtHR in a changing policy landscape

Notes

Part II Infant removals at birth: justice, representation, and rights

5 Parents in recurrent care proceedings: gender bias, institutional stigma, and cumulative trauma

Recurrent care proceedings: definition, statistics in brief and gender

International evidence

A note on terminology and focus

Overview of the studies

Study 1: Vulnerable birth mothers and recurrent care proceedings ( Broadhurst et al, 2015

2017)

Study 2: 'Up against it,' understanding fathers' repeat appearance in local authority care proceedings ( Philip et al, 2021 )

Study 3: Born into Care: developing best practice guidelines for when the state intervenes at birth ( Mason et al, 2022 )

Parental histories: cumulative trauma and adversity

Approaches to risk in the assessment period

Institutional and social stigmatisation: the 'marking' of mothers and fathers

Gendered disparities in legal parenthood

Accelerated timeframes and the tension between child and parent rights

The disruption of parental identity: care proceedings and the maternity setting

The emotional impact of court-​ordered infant removal.

Help and support for parents in recurrent care proceedings

6 Care proceedings in the immediate postpartum period as systemic gender-​based injustice

Pregnancy, gender, and cisnormativity

The context of care proceedings at birth in the UK and Australia

Legal and procedural frameworks in the four case study sites

Fairness, equality before the law, and human rights

Methods

'It's impossible': women's accounts of 'participating' in care proceedings at birth

Separation: brutal indifference to mothers' first connections with their newborn

'They've done it behind my back': postpartum mothers are unprepared for the removal of their baby at birth

Sufficiency and quality of legal representation

Perspectives of lawyers in England and Wales and Australia

7 Maternal rights and infant separation in prisons

Theoretical approach

Human rights and the separation of mothers and babies

International context and global similarities in maternal separation

Statistics on imprisonment

Options for mothers and babies: commonalities and differences

Decision-​making, rights, and postnatal care in custody

Spotlight on maternal mental health: the severe consequences of pregnancy and separation in prison

Simone's story: separation, decision-​making, and rights through the lens of lived experience

Proposed solutions

At the point of sentencing

Within prisons

Within children's social care, and criminal and family justice

Spotlight on housing

8 A right to family life for parents with learning difficulties and disabilities

Involvement in social care services and the family justice system

The research projects.

Study 1: Babies in care proceedings: what do we know about parents with learning disabilities or difficulties? ( Burch et al, 2024 )

Study 2: Substituted parenting: what does it mean in the family court context ( Tilbury and Tarleton, 2023 , funded by the Nuffield Foundation SSCR)

Study 3: How do adult and learning disability social workers engage with parents with learning disabilities? ( Tarleton, MacIntyre, and Fawcett, 2024 funded by the NIHR SSCR)

To what extent are parents with learning disabilities a niche population in children's social care, and why does that matter?

What is the role of adult social care services?

Parents' ability to meet adult social care services' thresholds for eligibility for Care Act support

Adult social care services' ability to provide the right support for parents with learning disabilities

Why is there a disconnect between adults and children's services?

Why are things so stuck?

Negative expectations of parents

Not a normal family life

What may result from systemic deficits within our attitudes, service culture, training, and supports for parenting?

Recognising and understanding parents

Overall service response

Support once a referral is made to children ' s social care services

Part III Infant removals at birth: Indigenous communities and strategies of resistance

9 Inequality in perinatal child protection involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in Australia: challenges and opportunities

Australia's colonial history and infant removal

Theoretical lens:​ Indigenous Women's Standpoint Theory

The perinatal Australian child protection context

Australian policies underpinning perinatal child protection

Ongoing challenges at the coalface

Parental perspectives.

Transparency and 'flight risk'.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-4473-7422-3

OCLC:

1587898100