Newborn baby confiscated when mother fails competency test

[MumoftwoNC]

This is in Denmark. I didn't know this was a thing, I'd never heard of this... I'm so upset by it. Does anyone know any more about this? Surely this wouldn't happen in the UK? I thought mums would be given support if they weren't "competent" rather than just have their baby taken into care.

Apologies for the Guardian link which just goes on about the mother's ethnic minority, whereas I think this would be awful regardless of the race of the mum.

Protests as newborn removed from Greenlandic mother after ‘parenting competence’ tests https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/23/protests-as-newborn-removed-from-greenlandic-mother-after-parenting-competence-tests?CMP=share_btn_url

I found another article from January incorrectly saying the tests had been banned.

"According to a 2022 report published by the Danish Institute for Human Rights, 5.6% of children with a Greenlandic background living in Denmark had at the time been placed into care, compared to 1% of those with a Danish background."

Even 1% seems quite high for children who are taken into care??

https://www.euronews.com/2025/01/21/denmark-abandons-controversial-parenting-competency-tests-used-on-greenlanders

I guess it's just upsetting me because I had really bad PPD after my first, and during my second pregnancy. But no one ever considered that I'd be unsuitable to look after my children. I just can't imagine being given a psychometric test during pregnancy and then failing it, and know that my baby would be confiscated straight after birth - it's dystopian. Surely supervision would be better?

God that’s awful.

Mum’s get support here but the children do get taken if that support doesn’t work. A friend of a friend has a toddler that was taken from the mother, the mother has five children and all have been taken so far. She keeps having more as she wants the baby but simply can’t cope, I don’t know the ins and outs. Very sad.

It’s interesting- we don’t know what the testing is. Clearly it’s unsuitable for women who are culturally Greenlandic. So this case is particularly awful as it’s known to be an unsuitable testing for the situation, and probably illegal, though I couldn’t quite follow the timing.

Generally though we do remove babies at birth when there are significant issues with the parents. We use M&B placements where they are available, but often only after a period of foster care.

There’s a huge difference between a mum like you suffering a health issue, and the mums whose babies I’ve looked after due to their incompetence (I use the word very specifically- it’s not a value judgement, they do not have the skills needed or the capacity to learn them).

I have supervised contact with a family whose baby I fostered. I had to intervene when an adult went to smear sudocreme onto baby’s bottom while it was still smeared with fecal matter.

They would spend more time pumping me for information, trying to build a bond with me so I’d write them a good report, than they’d spend with their baby. It was upsetting. She was a little darling of a child.

Never ever forget that leaving a baby in place when baby should have been removed leads to sick or dead babies.

But- babies should be with their mums if at all possible- this family were assessed using the wrong method, and could perhaps have kept her had the right method been used. That’s the key issue, I think.

I don’t think you should apologise for the Guardian link- the mother’s ethnicity appears to be a crucial feature of the story. It’s obviously horrific, but I really don’t think we have enough information to understand the situation. Does anyone have any other links?

@myplace Thank you, please tell me more because my head is whirling about this - what sort of thing could the mums not do? I mean was it like, learning disabilities? Or more, a state of mind thing?

Only in the article the mum was quoted as saying she had trauma from being abused when younger. I don't understand how that is deemed to be related to competence. It kind of implied that she was deemed incompetent due to her state of mind rather than her actions. Her baby wasn't even born yet when it was decided, so how could they prove she couldn't take care of them?

I was so depressed when my first was born. I was severely anemic from birth haemorrhage which contributed to my feelings of despair (we later learned). If you'd asked me psychological questions at that time you'd have been shocked at my answers. I wonder if I'd have failed some kind of test. But I took such careful care of my girl and she's a thriving 5yo now.

@myplace apologies we cross posted, I'm reading your follow up now

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jun/29/controversial-danish-parenting-test-separated-greenlandic-mother-children

Here's their earlier story on it. The mother being Greenlandic is highly relevant as the assessments are disproportionately targeted at Greenlandic women.

It should be what is best for any children born and yes I think people should have a licence to have children and yes I also include myself in that, I get sick of hearing about parents rights and not poor children who have to raised in, at times, terrible circumstances because ticking a box to not offended a parent is more important that what is best for the children comes last

How many issues does society have to fix because parents put their needs first? A child is not an accessory

Thank you for explaining about this family.

In that case though, it seems like the parents had a "chance" at trying to look after their child with support, but didn't make progress, couldn't learn the steps.

It's so different from a newborn being snatched away. Not even having a chance to be breastfed.

Wouldn't some kind of nursing home be better at least for the first few months, so the mum could have support with caring for the baby? We have mother and baby units here in the uk, don't we?

I guess the reason I'm feeling a bit emotional about this is I keep thinking that could have been me.

I was very competent with stuff like nappy changes but I used to say stuff like "what's the point in loving someone if we're all going to die in the end anyway". I still loved my dd to bits, kissed her and took photos of her all day long, but I was horrifically depressed. On paper I might have seemed an unsuitable mum.

The mother being Greenlandic is very relevant as there is a long history of poor treatment of Greenlandic women by Denmark as the colonial power. There was a programme in the 60s and 70s of putting young Greenlandic girls onto IUD birth control often without their understanding, awareness of it or their consent.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63049387?app-referrer=deep-link

Thank you for this.

From the article:

The tests cover attachment, personality traits, cognitive abilities and psychopathology, and take about 15-20 hours. It is almost impossible to pass them, says Nellemann; even he and his colleagues have failed to do so. Questions can include “What is glass made of?” and “What is the name of the big staircase in Rome?” Nellemann argues that the tests are culturally specific and a poor way to measure innate intelligence. “There is a lot of stigmatisation of people from Greenland,” he says. “We don’t know why we should use these tests for parenting.”

Surely this is a human rights scandal. The scientist said he and his colleagues don't pass the tests. How can you test "attachment"? My dh is the best dad and husband ever (from our pov ofc) but he's quiet and undemonstrative in front of people. Would that score lower points? The mind boggles.

I'm so glad I had my kids here.

Edit because I'm typo-ing a lot from being emotional! I need to get off mn and go hug my kids...! Just the thought of them being taken away has really got me upset. I think I'd have failed these tests.

(And I don't know the name of the staircase in Rome. I've even been to Rome but I can't remember.)

There's a few websites that say the fku has now been scrapped. Which can only be a positive thing

They must be incorrect because the mum in the op had her baby confiscated only two weeks ago.

In the U.K. while babies can be taken at birth this is usually in situations where there is deemed serious physical risk to the baby, often because the mum is with a very violent man. The mum will usually have been advised to leave in advance.

in general the U.K. supports parents to remain with their children - there are mum and baby units for severe mental illness after birth and social services have placements for teen mums and babies which are usually aimed at teaching them how to parent.

this seems much more, erm, targeted.

You were assessed as having a temporary health condition and enough support that your baby was safe and best with you.

Other families are assessed as having long term issues- perhaps a traumatic history makes them prone to fits of rage, or absences when the baby wouldn’t be cared for.

Drug use- if the mum misses appointments due to drug-alcohol use, or chaotic lifestyle issues.

Perhaps in this case assessment considered the failure to safeguard the mum, so therefore concerns about safeguarding the baby.

It’s hard for normal mums to imagine it could ever be right to take a newborn. Normal mums haven’t seen the chaotic mess that some women are in, and how hard it is to change that. Think Constance Martin, for example.

Please don’t let this upset you- you are doing well. Babies here are removed as a last resort. The situation for this poor Greenlandic mum is very different.

I was going to quote the same thing as @MumoftwoNC .

Also from that article,

The two assessments, 10 years apart, were made by the same Danish-speaking psychologist, who was also Keira’s therapist. Keira’s first language is Kalaallisut (West Greenlandic). She is not fluent in Danish.

To have her baby returned to her, she would have to work on multiple areas and “show development” – including “expressing herself in Danish”, becoming “more nuanced in her approach to herself and her surroundings” and being “able to express herself with clearer facial expressions

It would be too time-consuming and resource-consuming to give a 15-20 hour competency test to 1% of new mothers in England, partially testing linguistic abilities, because to many families would fail and it would overwhelm the system.

The tests are not about just about keeping children safe they are also ensuring the children grow up in Danish cultural environment.

You were assessed as having a temporary health condition and enough support that your baby was safe and best with you.

Thank you for your reassurance
... This was in lockdown and I had next to no support at all. No one assessed me for anything. I had to beg for a birth debrief then got private counselling. But that's another thread - I'm much better now.

*Other families are assessed as having long term issues- perhaps a traumatic history makes them prone to fits of rage, or absences when the baby wouldn’t be cared for.

Drug use- if the mum misses appointments due to drug-alcohol use, or chaotic lifestyle issues.*

I understand, this makes sense. Dh just said the same (he's looking after the kids while I'm supposed to be having a relaxing lie in- came in with some toast to find me crying lol - in his words "surely they would only do that here if you were a hopeless alcoholic or something")

But you'd think they'd mention it in the article about this mum if she was a drug user or something.

Edit - dh didn't mean alcoholics are hopeless, he meant an alcoholic with no hope of recovery

If a baby is taken away from a mum because she can’t name the steps in Rome that’s obviously ridiculous and needs stopping.

if a baby is taken away because there are fears the mum can’t safeguard the baby that’s different. I see the story says the mum (who is 18yo) was previously sexually abused by her stepdad who is in prison. Is he about to be released? Does the 18yo still live with her mum and if so did she turn a blind eye to sexual abuse under her roof? I have no idea but there could be all sorts of things we’re not aware of. Hopefully this will be fully investigated and the needs of the baby prioritised.

If that were the case why is the solution to remove the baby rather than remove the paedo stepdad?? It's heartbreaking

But you'd think they'd mention it in the article about this mum if she was a drug user or something.

they won’t be able to, she’s entitled to confidentiality. Even if that means she gives (potentially) an inaccurate statement to the media and the social services there can’t defend themselves.

The fact this has been highlighted for a while (the decision on removal was made three months prior to the birth) and the baby still isn’t back with her suggests there’s more to this story than in that article.

Certainly in the U.K. women would generally be offered a lot of support before getting to this stage. There will always be sadly a few women who aren’t capable or willing to care for their child safely for whatever reason, learning difficulties, drugs, personality issues, prioritising an unsafe relationship.

Yes, but not every family will agree to removing the stepdad 🤷‍♀️

I think the Greenland issue is probably a big part of it. My impression is that Greenlanders are viewed as Travellers are in Ireland or Appalachians in the USA (Stupid, uncivilized, to be avoided).

The thing I noticed is that they have held her lack of fluency in Danish against her. (Using Google) we can estimate that 1 in 5 Danish children have parents who do not speak danish. My kids are in an equivalent situation and I know thati if you arrive in a country as an adult you will never be fluent like a native speaker.
But if you are English speaking that won’t get held against you. The fact refugees are mentioned shows they aren’t being targeted either. That says to me that this is a focus on a perceived underclass group.

If she has known everything then they would have found a way to label her for being “uppity”.

Denmark has a long history of being massively racist towards Greenlanders e.g. forced sterilisations were once widespread. I think that's relevant to this case.