Available open access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.
A ground-breaking international collection, Born into Care brings together leading scholars, practitioners, advocates and mothers with lived experience to confront the hidden and deeply controversial practice of infant removal at birth.
The first book of its kind, it delivers a powerful critique of the legal, ethical and political systems that perpetuate a practice which disproportionately impacts marginalised families. Topics covered in the book include decision-making at birth, human rights and access to justice, and the intersecting inequities of class, gender, racism and ableism.
Through rigorous analysis and diverse perspectives, the collection challenges dominant child protection narratives and lays the groundwork for systemic transformation.
Introduction – Karen Broadhurst, Claire Mason, Dr Emily Keddell, Lucy Griffiths and Linda Cusworth Part 1: Care proceedings at birth: assessment and decision-making 1. Acting in haste? The particular challenges of family court proceedings at birth - Karen Broadhurst, Claire Mason, Emily Keddell, Lucy Griffiths and Linda Cusworth 2. The removal of infants at birth in the US: anticipating harm and substantiating claims in new-born baby cases - Vivek S. Sankaran 3. Title: Infant removals at birth in Norway - the challenge of predicting future harm in a context of policy and legislative change and reflection. - Ida Bendicte Juhaz and Barbara Ruiken 4. Even-handed treatment? Voluntary and compulsory routes into care for babies in Wales and Scotland - Laura Cowley and Linda Cusworth Part 2 : Rights And Representation 5. Maternal bodies in court: do care proceedings in the immediate post-partum period breach women’s legal and human rights? Karen Broadhurst and Stephanie Taplin, 6. Are parents with a history of repeat care proceedings treated fairly within children’s services and the family courts? Claire Mason, Bachar Alrouh, Karen Broadhurst, Georgia Philip and Harriet Ward 7. Mental health and parents’ participation rights in care proceedings - Lucy Griffiths, and Lisa Morris 8. Recognising and responding to learning disability and difficulties in family court proceedings: a question of rights - Katie Burch and Mary Baginsky 9. Maternal Rights and infant Separation in Prison - Laura Abbott and Kirsty Kitchen Part 3: Social Justice And Responding To Inequities In Colonised Contexts 10. Challenging and changing inequitable practice at birth for indigenous families in New Zealand - Emily Keddell and Kerri Cleaver 11. Socio-economic inequalities in perinatal child protection involvement of families in Australia: Challenges and Opportunities - Melissa O’Donnell and Jacynta Krakouer 12. Indigenous women speak: under surveillance at birth in British Columbia - Susan Burke and colleagues 13. Discussion - Karen Broadhurst, Claire Mason, Dr Emily Keddell, Lucy Griffiths and Linda Cusworth Conclusion
Karen Broadhurst OBE is Distinguished Professor of Social Work at Lancaster University. She is a leading figure in family justice research, including child protection at birth. Emily Keddell is Professor of Social Work at the University of Otago (Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka). Linda Cusworth is Senior Research Fellow at Lancaster University and a specialist in family justice research including children in care. Lucy Griffiths is Professor of Paediatric Epidemiology at Swansea University and a specialist in child health and wellbeing, with her work covering infants born into care. Claire Mason is Research Fellow at Lancaster University and leading a pioneer of systems change regarding child protection in pregnancy and at birth.
Reviews for Born into Care: International Perspectives on the Removal of Babies at Birth
“A comprehensive and compelling call for reform in pre-birth safeguarding and infant separation from a distinguished international collective of child welfare leaders with learned and lived experience.” Jeri L. Damman, University of Sussex