Essex County Council caesarean pregnancy case 'very sad' for mother

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-25332460

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A council that took a baby into care after it was delivered by a forced Caesarean section says the case has been "very sad" for its mother.

The baby of Italian Alessandra Pacchieri, 35, was taken into care by Essex County Council's social services.

Lawyers for the mother claim her treatment has been "brutal" and say she would like to live with her three children in the US.

The council said other options had been "exhausted" before it pursued adoption.

Ms Pacchieri is reported to have come to Britain while pregnant to attend a training course with an airline at Stansted Airport in Essex.

After refusing to take her bipolar medication, Ms Pacchieri had "a number of very intrusive paranoid delusions" and was "profoundly unwell", a judge said.

She was sectioned under the Mental Health Act on 13 June 2012 and a Caesarean carried out in August 2012.

Judge Newton, sitting at Chelmsford County Court, ruled in February that although the mother's condition had improved and she was "extremely well" when she gave evidence, adoption was the best way to provide "a permanent, predictable and stable home" for the child.

Addressing full council on Tuesday, Dick Madden, the council's cabinet member for families and children, said: "Undoubtedly, this has been a very sad and difficult case for the mother, baby and family.

"Essex County Council has been working for more than a year with other partner agencies on this extremely complex and emotive case."

Stefano Oliva, the woman's lawyer, said his client had seen the baby once a week while she remained in the UK, and then once a month after her return to Italy in October 2012.

The last time Ms Pacchieri saw her child was more than six months ago, in May this year, Mr Oliva told BBC Radio 5 live's Victoria Derbyshire.

"She understands she has some problems and understands that she needs the help of her family," he added.

"My client is seeing the two older children on a regular basis. They live with the grandmother but they see my client anytime they want.

"She would be glad if a judge understands she is not claiming to have babies by herself, but with the protection of the wide family."

He added the woman was imagining a "better future for her and her three children in the US", where an aunt of her eldest children lives.