Judges have been issued fresh guidance designed to reduce the number of mothers required to attend court proceedings within hours or days of giving birth, following growing concerns about the impact on families involved in child safeguarding cases.
According to BBC News, the changes stem from a BBC investigation that documented the traumatic experience of mothers attending court while recovering from labour. The new guidance, issued by the Judiciary, restricts same-day hearings to situations where a child's immediate safety is genuinely at risk, ensuring that judicial intervention remains focused on cases that truly require urgent action.
The issue has become increasingly prominent in family courts across England. In October, the BBC reported that the number of children involved in care proceedings before their first birthdays remained persistently high, based on research from the universities of Lancaster and Oxford. More than half of urgent care hearings in England during 2024-25 involved newborns, with mothers sometimes required to attend court on the same day they gave birth or within days of delivery.
Why are experts concerned about rapid court proceedings?
Experts have raised significant concerns about the fairness and necessity of many emergency hearings involving newborns. While some cases genuinely require immediate intervention to protect children from unsafe situations, many babies may not have needed to enter care if adequate support had been available to their families beforehand. Since very young children in care are more likely to be adopted than older children, there are worries that some infants may have been permanently separated from their birth families without genuine necessity.
Emma Smale, head of practice and policy at the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, described the new guidance as a welcome development. She highlighted that the number of newborn babies in care proceedings in England and Wales subject to same-day hearings has doubled over a decade, rising from one in ten in 2012-13 to one in five in 2022-23. Smale emphasised that separating a mother from her baby immediately after birth is widely recognised as deeply traumatic for all involved, and questioned the fairness of making life-changing decisions when a parent cannot effectively participate in proceedings.
What do the new rules require?
Under the revised guidance, applicants seeking emergency or short-notice listings—which take place within five days—must now provide evidence justifying why a case requires such urgency. If a judge determines that the level of urgency does not meet the threshold, the case will be assigned a standard listing scheduled between days 12 and 18 after the application is made. The expectation outlined in the guidance is that same-day hearing applications would become extremely rare.
A same-day hearing should only be sought if a child's immediate safety would be compromised without court intervention. The Judiciary stated that the guidance is intended to give parents and guardians adequate time to respond more effectively to applications and to ensure urgent judicial intervention is genuinely focused on cases requiring it.
The Newborn Baby Protocol sets out additional safeguards for cases involving newborns. It requires that local authorities seeking same-day hearings must provide hospital evidence confirming the baby is medically fit for discharge and that the hospital cannot retain the child longer, along with documented reasons. Applicants must also provide a concise written explanation of why an urgent hearing is necessary, either within the application itself or in an accompanying document.
What support will be offered to families?
The protocol covers cases both before and after birth, establishing steps to support parents' receipt of notice, access to legal advice, participation in proceedings, and preparation for any potential separation and follow-up care arrangements. In England, early referral and assessment by local authority children's services will ensure timely provision of preventative help, which should include identifying and strengthening family network resources where this serves the child's best interests.
Before making any care order application, a Family Group Decision Making Meeting must be offered to parents, in line with the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. This requirement aims to provide a greater level of fairness for both child and parents when care proceedings are initiated immediately after a child's birth.
The protocol was developed by a Short Notice Applications Working Group established in November 2024, drawing on cross-sector input to ensure comprehensive consideration of the issues involved.
When will the guidance take effect?
The Judiciary published the short-notice public-law guidance and supporting materials on 29 October 2026. The President of the Family Division is scheduled to launch the guidance at a webinar on 4 November 2026, where the supporting materials will also be formally introduced to the judiciary and legal professionals.
The changes represent a significant shift in how family courts approach cases involving newborns and represent an effort to balance the need for child protection with fairness to parents during an exceptionally vulnerable period in their lives.
