High Court rules on care consent case

The High Court has ruled that social workers were wrong to obtain consent from a woman to take her new-born baby into care when she was still under the affects of drugs administered during a difficult birth, reports the Daily Mail.

The 26-year-old had previously told Coventry Council social workers that she wanted to keep the baby, and the High Court judge ruled that asking her again when she was under the influence of morphine was a breach of her and her baby's right to respect for family life.

According to the Daily Mail, the woman had three previous children, who had all been taken into care and placed for adoption. The judge agreed that it was in the best interests of the baby to be taken into care as well, but that social workers needed to be more careful when seeking the consent of parents to do so.