Young mothers usually care for their own babies the best way they can but when something goes wrong and the child gets neglected or abused, should they  face  a drastic  punitive sentence or  be handled kindly and carefully to find out the underlying true cause of their  'behaviour'  and  be  'rehabilitated' fully?

If this scenario were   evident  in other areas , where the  care-giver was not doing her/his job properly  resulting in some form of neglect, what should be the  correct line of approach?  Should they be sent to prison or sacked or suspended  or be taken to one side to establish what exactly had happened and why things had gone  wrong.  Caring  is a noble activity , whether for the young or for the old  and  it  is not always easy.   Pressure of work , lack of staff , lack of support and assistance,  poor  environment ,  the type of individuals being cared  etc  are  all  extremely relevant.  More research is needed  and  in depth training  is essential.

Sadly  these  'requirements' are often ignored.   Some  profit - making businesses get into it  often  without any  altruistic motive  and only to make money for their share-holders.  Despite very strict requirements  for 'standards' , the actual 'activities'  on the coal face  are not  monitored all the time  and  'bad' practices  prevail.    If  one is doing wrong things and is getting away with it, why not  the other one will also  follow suit !  The  supervision is not always there  and  the ''bosses'' are usually busy checking their balance sheets and 'reports'.   I have witnessed such callous behaviour by a 'trained' nurse  in a major hospital, when a very sick patient was admitted  at one  o'clock in the morning  to face a uniformed person  with a form on a pinboard   in her hand  enquiring when  that 74 old patient  patient had her menarche !!!!!  This is an extreme example  but did happen.  Why? Because , the regulations are given more importance than the 'caring',

Despite all such shortcomings , I feel the correct approach to such problem must be more training and choice of  right kind of people to do the job. Yes , dismissal , disciplinary sanctions may be necessary in extreme cases , but  such approach won't 'improve' anything  - the staff will live in fear , won't report any genuine mistakes  , will begin to conceal  substandard  work by others.   Officially  'training' IS  provided  - the staff are sent to meetings and seminars elsewhere  but no one checks what they have learnt  and how the actual practice  will change for the  better . Often by the time they finish their return train journey , they might have forgotten what they heard during the day !!! To me , training means  ,'' hands on'' training  , the way a surgeon is trained at the operating table by his teacher.  The  'senior' nursing staff these days  are  mostly ''managers''  attending meetings ( mostly  useless and non productive)  rather than passing on their  'skill' to their juniors.  

I feel time now  has come to give some credance  to 'practical hands-on training'  of all grades of care-staff in our institutions  whether privately run or state-run