Babies who have been abused once are far more likely to be abused again if they are allowed home, research suggests.
Researchers monitored 69 babies who had been physically abused before they were one year old. Of the 49 babies who returned home after a child protection investigation, 15 were abused again within three years.
This rate of almost one in three - or 31 per cent - is much higher than the abuse rate in the general population..
The researchers conclude that there is “a serious failure” in secondary prevention in babies. Child protection services should focus more on protecting babies and need to be more cautious if the infants are returned to their families, states the research published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.
“Our experience suggests that many social workers and health visitors have not been trained to recognise the increased risks of physical harm to babies that result from a previous episode of abuse,” they say.
