Probably should be higher

Stuff reports:

Nearly 800 newborn babies were taken from their mothers and put into government care in the past five years, with one Waikato baby taken within hours of its birth.

The 773 babies – all less than a month old – were taken due to “serious concerns” about their parents’ ability to care for them.

Child, Youth and Family midlands regional director Sue Critchley described the removals as “absolutely the last resort”.

“The last thing any social worker wants to do is take a newborn baby off their mother. So it has to be an absolute serious situation.

It’s a sad number, but to be honest the number should probably be even higher. There are a number of adults who have shown they are incapable of being safe parents, and if they understood they will automatically lose their babies at borth – they might stop having so many.