With some people trying so desperately trying to have children, who i know would be great parents, it really gets to me that she can do this. I hope the punishment that her kids were taken away makes her change her ways and do a little rethinking

OMG, poor kids.. how anyone can behave like that is beyond my comprehension, the story is really emotive. Not normally one to judge other peoples parenting, this mom clearly does not have what it takes to take good care of those sprogs! my two pennies worth

This actually makes me feel physically sick. I have to believe that there must have been issues previous to this. What mother in her right mind indulges in cocaine anyway and also 22 with 4 children, she is nearly a child herself.

Some people see children as a status symbol, these are the familes that social services should have been looking in to. What is worse is that people must have know how she was livinf (family and friends) and they should have stepped in and spoke to the authorities.

Children come first ALWAYS.

I am spitting mad.

Oh My God! Those poor children. At four my son was properly clued up - how will it affect hers? Why didn't anyone - her parents/stepfather???- see this coming??

What broke my heart was that the little 4-year-old had tried to make a bottle to feed her baby brother. She was acting more like a parent than her own mother.

Ditto what Jacqui above me has said, the whole story made my blood boil but the thought of a child just a bit older than my own being responsible for 3 other toddlers made me weep.

I cannot believe that she wasn't given a jail sentence. Pure madness!

My mother once left the house at 10 am to go food shopping and return 1am the next morning, after deciding to go to the pub and then on to a club. Leaving me with my 2 sisters and brother until my step dad got home! I was 14 at the time so not as young as those children but its the worse feeling in the world, I'd like to say thats the worse she'd done but its not x

Almost makes you think we should all apply for licences before becoming parents... So sad, you just want to march in and scoop the little mites up.

Four children by the age of 22 I am stunned that no one thought to get help. For ALL of them. Perhaps they did. Thank heavens they are being looked after now and I hope they will continue to be looked after and looked after well.

It's such a sad story and beyond belief that any mother could do that, the thought of a four year old trying to feed the younger one breaks your heart.

A world away and this is what happens in third world countries all the time with children as young as 4 and 5 bringing up their younger siblings - they have no choice as illness if rife and they lose parents - shouldn't happen in our 'wealthy' western world

How lucky are most of our children?

Sounds like you had a tough time New Mummy, hope you have a better life now x