Surge in newborn babies being taken into care in England since 2007

The number of newborn babies taken into care in England has soared in recent years, according to a report.

A total of 13,248 babies were taken into care either at birth or not long afterwards over the seven years from 2007, the BBC reported.

Figures have been compiled for the first time using original family court records.

One of the experts who led the research at the University of Lancaster said there has been a disproportionate rise over the years.

Professor Karen Broadhurst told the BBC: "Over the years there's been a general trend towards taking more timely action - getting in there quicker - and obviously we would all want to see infants protected at birth. We wouldn't want to leave them in situations of harm.

"I think what is more difficult to explore is could there be any way of preventing this in the absence of any analysis, any research, evidence, what could we have done to prevent this huge increase?"

The report said 2,018 newborns were made the subject of care proceedings in 2013, up from 802 in 2008.

The research showed that around half of the babies were taken from women who had other children in care, while a third were removed from teenage mothers.

Prof Broadhurst said the trend towards taking more timely action went some way to explaining the bigger numbers, but questioned the lack of research around how to prevent it happening.