A Black Country mother last night spoke of how her family was "ripped apart" by a doctor being investigated by the General Medical Council. Michelle Edmonds never heard her child Samantha's first words or saw her first steps as she was put into social care before she was one, on the advice of consultant paediatrician Professor David Southall. Ms Edmonds' marriage broke down and questions were asked about whether she could raise her other two children after she was diagnosed with Munchausen's Syndrome By Proxy in 1995. Samantha was born in November 1994 and, after suffering breathing problems, was referred by Ms Edmonds' local doctor in Dudley to North Staffordshire Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, where Prof Southall worked. Dr Southall said that Ms Edmonds had abused her daughter, or was making up a story about breathing problems to get attention. After being closely watched by social services, Samantha was put into foster care for nine months and Ms Edmonds could only see her daughter under the supervision of social workers. "They watched my every move to see if I would do anything to harm Samantha," said 33-year-old Ms Edmonds, who lives in Stourbridge. "I even had to go to a special rehabilitation centre in Oxford where I was only allowed to play with my baby in front of CCTV cameras. It was supposed to catch out mothers abusing their babies. "Samantha was then sent to another place where I could not see her and when she started having breathing fits there, it became apparent that it was not me harming her." Ms Edmonds still had a long battle to clear her name and get her daughter back, which ended when a judge threw out the allegations against her. Samantha finally returned home in April 1996 when Ms Edmonds' other children, Baron, now aged 13, and 11-year-old Sadie, were taken off the 'at risk' register. "I just feel terrible about it all because I never saw Samantha's first steps or heard her first words because I was only allowed near her on occasions which social services permitted," she said. "I could not believe some of the things that they were accusing me of. I just went to pieces. I would never dream of hurting my children. "I was brought up in a care home so they thought I was not good enough to be a parent. But this has ripped apart my family and I have been crying ever since I heard on the news that this doctor is being investigated because it has brought it all back." | 
