Mother who’s had 17 children taken away by social workers

A MOTHER has had 17 children removed from her by social workers and taken into care, it was revealed yesterday.

The astonishing figure is believed to be the highest recorded in Britain, although few details are known about the woman.

She lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, has been pregnant for much of her adult life and is thought to be in her 40s.

The woman has given birth to baby after baby over a 30-year period from the mid1980s, knowing each child would almost certainly be taken from her shortly after being born.

The reasons so many of her children have been taken into care are not known. Children’s charities were shocked by the figure, which was revealed as Barnardo’s announced the launch of a project in the city to help reduce the number of children taken into care.

The existence of the mother of 17 was revealed by a Freedom of Information request by the BBC to Newcastle City Council. Neighbouring areas also revealed high figures, with a mother in Gateshead having had ten children taken from her.

In Cumbria, Sunderland and Durham the highest figure for one mother was nine.

Last December the organisation Pause, which helps women in seven areas of the country whose children have been taken into care, revealed that one woman had had 16 babies removed from her.

No further details were available and it is not known if this is the same woman now revealed to have had 17 children taken away.

Nationally there has been a sharp increase in the number of newborns taken into care – rising from 802 in 2008 to 2,018 in 2013.

A recent report, which looked at family court records, found that between 2007 and 2014 a total of 13,248 babies were removed by the authorities. The report, by Lancas- ter University, Brunel University London and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, said that a third of mothers who had a child taken away by social services went on to have more babies put in care.

The more babies a woman has taken into care, the more quickly she will go on to get pregnant

‘Highest number I have heard of’

again, it found. Study leader Karen Broadhurst, professor of social work at Lancaster University, said: ‘For one mother to have 17 children taken from her is extreme and it’s the highest number I have heard of. It is a troubling figure, but sadly it is not uncommon for women to have several children placed in the care of local authorities.

‘Why they then continue to have children is something we have looked closely at.’

She said these women were often in ‘controlling relationships’ with men, adding: ‘The women who have this pattern of having really high numbers of children taken into care probably have mental capacity issues on top of the other problems we commonly see.’

Sian Bufton, assistant director of children’s services for Barnardo’s, said the case of the mother who had 17 children taken was ‘exceptional’. She added: ‘It is likely she would have had difficulties such as domestic abuse, mental health problems, a chaotic lifestyle, possibly substance misuse.

‘The reason it has got to 17 is because of those sort of factors and because there hasn’t been a service like Pause.’

She said that she hoped the Pause project, which will be run in Newcastle by Barnardo’s when it opens soon, will cut the number of ‘repeat removals’.

A spokesman for Newcastle City Council, which is working with Barnardo’s on the project, said: ‘It would not be appropriate for us to comment on a specific case.

‘Each case is dealt with according to the individual circumstances of the family. Efforts are made to support children to remain with their family where this is appropriate.

‘Aftercare to mothers who have had a child removed would be dependent on the particular needs of each mother, who may themselves be a vulnerable adult.’