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Forced caesarean case: Italian woman 'suffering like an animal' Forced caesarean case: Italian woman 'suffering like an animal'
(about 2 hours later)
The Italian woman who was given a forced caesarean section and then had her baby taken from her has said she is "suffering like an animal" and cannot understand why her daughter should be placed for adoption in Britain.The Italian woman who was given a forced caesarean section and then had her baby taken from her has said she is "suffering like an animal" and cannot understand why her daughter should be placed for adoption in Britain.
The 35-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is reported to have come to Britain in July 2012 when heavily pregnant for a training course at Stansted airport in Essex. She reportedly had a panic attack connected to a failure to take regular medication for an existing bipolar condition and was restrained and sectioned under the Mental Health Act.The 35-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is reported to have come to Britain in July 2012 when heavily pregnant for a training course at Stansted airport in Essex. She reportedly had a panic attack connected to a failure to take regular medication for an existing bipolar condition and was restrained and sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Essex social services won a high court order for the birth to be carried out by caesarean section and the baby girl, born in August, was taken into care. The mother returned from Italy in February to request custody of her daughter, telling a family court judge, Roderick Newton, that she had come to terms with her condition and was now sufficiently well. The health trust won a court order for the birth to be carried out by caesarean section and the baby girl, born in August, was taken into care after the council obtained a care order.
Newton expressed sympathy and said the mother was coherent and convincing, but ruled that social workers' concerns that the woman might again neglect to take her medication meant the girl, now 15 months, should be placed for adoption. The mother returned from Italy in February to request custody of her daughter, telling a family court judge, Roderick Newton, that she had come to terms with her condition and was now sufficiently well.
On Monday, Essex county council said the decision had been taken over concerns about the "risks to mother and child". On Monday, Essex county council said the health trust's clinical decision to apply to the high court for permission to deliver her unborn baby by caesarean section was due to "concerns about risks to mother and child".
But, in an interview with an Italian newspaper the woman indicated she had been left traumatised by the incident. "I want my daughter back. I'm suffering like an animal," she said.But, in an interview with an Italian newspaper the woman indicated she had been left traumatised by the incident. "I want my daughter back. I'm suffering like an animal," she said.
"They made me have a caesarean without telling me anything. The day of the birth I thought that they were just moving me from one room to another, while I was saying I wanted to go back to Italy. Then I was sedated. And when I woke up she was not with me any longer. They took her from me.""They made me have a caesarean without telling me anything. The day of the birth I thought that they were just moving me from one room to another, while I was saying I wanted to go back to Italy. Then I was sedated. And when I woke up she was not with me any longer. They took her from me."
She claimed that two members of the baby's extended family had been "willing to take the little one into foster care".She claimed that two members of the baby's extended family had been "willing to take the little one into foster care".
"But the [British] social services ignored them," she was quoted as saying. "Why? Why did no one help me?" She added: "I did not give my consent, neither orally nor in writing, to the adoption of my daughter.""But the [British] social services ignored them," she was quoted as saying. "Why? Why did no one help me?" She added: "I did not give my consent, neither orally nor in writing, to the adoption of my daughter."
In a statement on Monday, the council rejected accusations it had acted improperly, saying that it had decided to apply for permission to deliver the child by caesarean section on medical grounds and that social workers had "liaised extensively" with the extended family over the baby's future care. In a statement on Monday, the council rejected accusations it had acted improperly, saying it had "liaised extensively" with the extended family over the baby's future care.
"The long-term safety and wellbeing of children is always Essex county council's priority. Adoption is never considered until we have exhausted all other options and is never pursued lightly," it said."The long-term safety and wellbeing of children is always Essex county council's priority. Adoption is never considered until we have exhausted all other options and is never pursued lightly," it said.
The health trust had been looking after the mother since 13 June 2012 under the Mental Health Act. Because of its concerns, it contacted Essex social services. Five weeks later it was the trust's clinical decision to apply to the high court for permission to deliver the unborn child by caesarean section "because of concerns about risk to mother and child", the council said.The health trust had been looking after the mother since 13 June 2012 under the Mental Health Act. Because of its concerns, it contacted Essex social services. Five weeks later it was the trust's clinical decision to apply to the high court for permission to deliver the unborn child by caesarean section "because of concerns about risk to mother and child", the council said.
"Historically, the mother has two other children which she is unable to care for due to orders by the Italian authorities. In accordance with Essex county council's social services practice, social workers liaised extensively with the extended family before and after the birth of the baby, to establish if anyone could care for the child.""Historically, the mother has two other children which she is unable to care for due to orders by the Italian authorities. In accordance with Essex county council's social services practice, social workers liaised extensively with the extended family before and after the birth of the baby, to establish if anyone could care for the child."
However, the mother's Italian lawyer, Stefano Oliva, reportedly said: "They shamefully abused her rights."However, the mother's Italian lawyer, Stefano Oliva, reportedly said: "They shamefully abused her rights."
The woman's father was quoted as saying: "My daughter is not mad; she is being treated for bipolar disorder. And they snatched her baby against her will."The woman's father was quoted as saying: "My daughter is not mad; she is being treated for bipolar disorder. And they snatched her baby against her will."
An MP who has taken up the woman's case is in discussions with the mother about what to do over the issue. The February judgment by Chelmsford county court granting the council a care order for the baby girl, referred to only as P, as well as a placement order leading to adoption, was made public on Tuesday.
John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley, said in a statement that he was also in touch with Italian officials to find out if they could help. Hemming, who chairs the Justice for Families Campaign Group, has said he hopes to raise the matter in parliament. The judge said P's welfare throughout her life was his paramount consideration. On balance, "a permanent, predictable and stable home" would be best achieved by adoption.
"Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of media interest in this case," he said. "We do, however, need to remember that at the centre of this case is a mother and a baby, and the wider family including two siblings of the baby." However, he hoped that her mother would be able to meet those adopting her daughter. "It is important for P to know her birth family, as I know they do, will take a continuing interest in her. It will not be straightforward. It will not be easy.....
"If in later life P reads this judgment, as she may well do, I hope that she will appreciate that her mother in particular loved her and wished for her to return to live with her and to bring her up. It is not her fault, nor P's, that this was not possible and that a predictable home could only be secured by way of adoption," said the judgment.
"P should know that the mother very much wished to parent her and bring her up and I hope that this is some small comfort both to the mother and also to P."
The judge said P's father, a Senegalese national, had, like her mother, opposed the council's applications. The mother, who has had mental health problems since 2007 and been admitted to psychiatric hospitals in Italy, had two other daughters, both looked after by her mother.
She was detained in the UK under the Mental Health Act in June last year and was "profoundly unwell", according to the judge. An "unusual order" at the court of protection in August 2012, gave permission for P's birth to be by caesarian section.
The judge criticised doctors treating the mother last year for suggesting she had regained legal capacity when, after the birth, she was allowed to return to Italy. She had been "dispatched (indeed escorted) from the UK with undue haste simply because she wished to go back to Italy".
Newton said that he was led to believe that the mother was "in a good state and good frame of mind but frankly nothing could have been further from the truth".
It was clear from reports from doctors in Italy that when she arrived there she "was in a very poor state". The judge said "by going to Italy any realistic prospect of P returning to her care was diminished substantially". Allowing her to leave had been "most ill-advised", he said.
Yet when the mother had subsequently returned to Britain to appear before the court and having complied with her medication, she was "as clear and articulate, indeed more so, than most people I hear from the witness box where English is their first language, and English is not the mother's first language".
The mother's evidence was that "she felt well and that in a rather perverse and tragically sad way that her daughter had saved her", said the judge.
"It had finally brought her to the realisation that accepting that she is bipolar and that it is necessary for her to take and maintain her medication."
The mother had proposed her daughter should remain in foster care for up to a year and that she herself would be able to maintain her medication and a stable life.
A spokesman for the judiciary said: "The proceedings are not yet concluded. The president [of the family division of the high court, Sir James Munby] has ordered that the matter be transferred to the high court and any further applications in respect of the child are to be heard by him."A spokesman for the judiciary said: "The proceedings are not yet concluded. The president [of the family division of the high court, Sir James Munby] has ordered that the matter be transferred to the high court and any further applications in respect of the child are to be heard by him."
Hemming said: "I welcome the transfer of the case from Chelmsford county court to the high court in front of the president of the family division. The appointment of the president of the family division was a very positive step and I am certain that any applications to him will be heard justly.
"I remain concerned that many decisions taken by the family courts are taken by the magistrates court (the family proceedings court) and are then appealed to the county court. This means that domestic proceedings can be exhausted without a case getting out of the area in which it is considered.
"This means that there is never any public judgment and the case in the UK has come to an end. All people can then do is to take their case to Strasbourg."
He also accused Essex council of failing "to follow proper proceedings". He said: "The rules are straightforward when it comes to foreign nationals and care proceedings. The foreign country concerned should be contacted through their central authority (in Italy's case part of the justice ministry).
"This clearly did not happen and for this Essex county council are clearly in the wrong. Essex have not managed to explain why no one in the wider extended family was competent to look after the baby when they were already looking after two of her siblings.
"Additionally, Essex have not explained why this baby was in their control to get adopted when the mother always intended to return to Italy."
Other groups have expressed concern about the case of the Italian woman, including the charity Bipolar UK and the human rights organisation Liberty.
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