Mother of uplifted children feared her baby was next

A mother who had her children removed from her care has spoken about the unfairness of a law that meant her baby was in line to be taken when he was born, despite her circumstances changing. Subsequent Child legislation, introduced in 2016, spells out the criteria under which a new baby can be uplifted, if an older sibling has already been taken by the state. Most parents who have a child taken by the state meet the legislative criteria for their next baby to be removed. But the 39-year-old, who wants to be known as Manaia, says she was no longer with her violent partner and it wasn't fair that her unborn baby was targetted. She told our Māori news correspondent Leigh-Marama McLachlan about the day her three young boys were uplifted by social services.