CofE care home linked to babies born with birth defects

BBC Radio 4 has alleged a possible link between sedatives and babies born with birth defects. The Today programme has revealed it knows of 10 women who have had babies with birth defects, all of whom were heavily sedated at a carehome in Gravesend during the 70s and 80s. The care home was being run by the Church of England.

The programme says it fears hundreds of women could now risk having babies with birth defects if they were also given tranquilisers and other drugs during their stay at the care home. The sedatives were given to the girls to restrain them.

One former resident, Teresa Cooper, has had three children, all with birth defects, since leaving the home in 1984 at the age of 16.

Her eldest son was born with respiratory problems, her second born blind with learning difficulties, and her daughter was born with a cleft palate and a short lower jaw.

The Today programme’s investigation discovered records of Ms Cooper having been given medication at least 1,248 times, over a 32-month period, including three major tranquilisers, drugs to counter side-effects and anti-depressants. She was given up to 10 times the current recommended dose of the tranquilliser Valium.

Nine other former residents of Kendall House, who were all similarly drugged, have also gone on to have children with a range of birth defects, including brain tumours, learning difficulties and cleft palate, said the programme.

The Today programme was told by a former member of staff at the Kendall House home (which is no longer a care home) that the drugs were administered occasionally on the instructions of a consultant psychiatrist.

Childcare experts from the inspectorate Ofsted say hundreds of children may have been drugged in the care system across the UK throughout the 70s and 80s, subjecting them to the same health risks as those learnt about by the BBC.

In a statement issued through the Church of England, the Diocese of Rochester said, “If the police, social services or appropriate legal body initiates an investigation, the Diocese will co-operate fully with them.”

Mike Lindsay, chief adviser at the children’s rights director’s office at Ofsted, said, “Using drugs to control the behaviour of children was perfectly acceptable as far as their own professional understanding at that time went.”