Born Into Care

International Perspectives on the Removal of Babies at Birth
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-4473-7421-3
Verlag: Bristol University Press

Buch, Englisch, 240 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Broadhurst, Karen

Keddell, Emily

Cusworth, Linda

Griffiths, Lucy

Mason, Claire

Weitere Mitwirkende

Abbott, Laura

Avlonitis, Natalie

Benedicte Juhasz, Ida

Burch, Katy

Burke, Susan

Cleaver, Kerri

Cowley, Laura

Kitchen, Kirsty

Krakouer, Jacynta

Miller Brunton, Katherine

O'Donnell, Melissa

Philip, Georgia

Phipps, Simone

Ruiken, Barbara

Sankaran, Vivek S.

Taplin, Stephanie

Tarlton, Beth

Tre Fitts, James

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Arbeit/Sozialpädagogik Soziale Arbeit/Sozialpädagogik: Familie, Kinder, Jugendliche
• Rechtswissenschaften Bürgerliches Recht Familienrecht Sorgerecht, fam. Namensrecht, Abstammung

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction - Karen Broadhurst, Emily Keddell, Linda Cusworth, Lucy Griffiths, Claire Mason

Part 1: Infant Removals at Birth: Assessment and Decision Making

1. The Removal of Infants at Birth in the US: Anticipating Harm in Newborn Baby Cases - Vivek Sankaran and James Tre Fitts

2. Newborn Babies, Family Preservation and the Role of the Guardian ad Litem: Cradled by the System or Harmed in Haste? - Karen Broadhurst and Linda Cusworth

3. Even-handed Treatment? Voluntary and Compulsory Routes into Care for Infants in Wales - Laura Cowley and Lucy Griffiths

4. Newborn Removals in Norway: Contested Decisions in a Changing Policy Landscape - Barbara Ruiken and Ida Benedicte Juhasz

Part 2: Infant Removals at Birth: Justice, Representation and Rights

5. Parents in Recurrent Care Proceedings: Gender Bias, Institutional Stigma and Cumulative Trauma - Claire Mason, Georgia Philip, Harriet Ward and Bachar Alrouh

6. Care Proceedings in the Immediate Postpartum Period as Systemic Gender-based Injustice - Karen Broadhurst and Stephanie Taplin

7. Maternal Rights and Infant Separation in Prisons - Laura Abbott, Natalie Avlonitis, Kirsty Kitchen, Katherine Miller Brunton and Simone Phipps

8. A Right to Family Life for Parents with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities - Katy Burch and Beth Tarleton

Part 3: Disproportionate Infant Removals in 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 - Jacynta Krakouer and Melissa O’Donnell

10. Under Surveillance in Pregnancy and at Birth in British Columbia: Indigenous Women Speak Out - Susan Burke

11. Decolonisation and the Reduction of Entries to Care for Babies in Aotearoa New Zealand: the Ongoing Challenge - Kerri Cleaver and Emily Keddell

12. Transforming Practices of Infant Removal at Birth: What Needs to Change? - Karen Broadhurst, Emily Keddell, Linda Cusworth, Lucy Griffiths, Claire Mason

Über Autor(innen)

Karen Broadhurst OBE is Distinguished Professor at the Centre for Child and Family Justice, Lancaster University. She is a leading figure in family justice research, including child protection at birth.

Emily Keddell is Professor in the Social and Community Programme at the University of Otago Otakou Whakaihu Waka.

Linda Cusworth is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Child and Family Justice Research at Lancaster University, specialist in family justice research including children in care

Lucy Griffiths is Professor and leading epidemiologist at the Medical School 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 the Centre for Child and Family Justice Research, Lancaster University, and leading pioneer of systems change regarding child protection in pregnancy and at birth.