Munchausen's syndrome by proxy was identified in the 1970s by the now discredited paediatrician Sir Roy Meadow. It was alleged to take the form of fabricated illness where a parent claims a child is ill by making up symptoms.
The theory became increasingly influential and in 1993 the professor's evidence helped convict British nurse Beverley Allitt of the murders of four children.
But the Angela Cannings and Sally Clark miscarriages of justice wrecked Professor Meadow's reputation because he had been an expert witness. Some now question whether Munchausen's exists.
Now we have a case where British social workers are threatening to take a woman's first born child because of the mere imagined possibility on their part that she would harm her child, based on her troubled teenage years.
From the Daily Mail:
A mother-to-be faces losing her baby within minutes of its birth because social workers fear she will harm the child.
Fran Lyon, 22, has been told she cannot be trusted with a newborn because she is likely to suffer from Munchausen's syndrome by proxy.
The condition is said to lead mothers to seek attention by harming their child or claiming it is ill.
Miss Lyon insisted yesterday that the mental health problems she had as a teenager were behind her. She also appealed for a place in a mother and baby unit so that she could look after her child under supervision.
"I would be happy to stay for as long as it takes," she said. "At the end of the day I have nothing to hide so why would I have a problem going? I know there is nothing wrong.
"I'm not depressed, although I have every right to be. I'm not struggling to cope."
Miss Lyon's child - a girl to be called Molly - is due in January.
"I know I wouldn't hurt her," she said. "I would quite happily have 24-hour supervision with a perfect stranger sat with me watching my every move.
"All I want is a chance to be Molly's mum."
Social workers told Miss Lyon last week that her child will be taken from her within 30 minutes of birth.
Munchausen's has been at the heart of a series of miscarriages of justice.
Sir Roy Meadow, a discredited paediatrician who helped develop theories about the condition, was responsible for evidence that led to the wrongful convictions of Angela Cannings and Sally Clark for murdering their children. Miss Clark died earlier this year, after, friends said, turning to alcohol following her release from prison.
Miss Lyon, from Hexham in Northumberland, started self-harming at the age of 15 and has been treated at psychiatric hospitals for borderline personality disorder.
She said a domestic incident in July led to the involvement of social services who became concerned by her pregnancy.
"I told them that I had mental health problems when I was a lot younger and that I had since moved on and now had a normal life," said Miss Lyon.
"I assumed that would be the end of it but the next thing I know they were going to a child protection conference.
"I am living with this constant notion that someone might walk into the delivery suite and take my baby away."
Her case has been taken up by Lib-Democrat MP John Hemming who has been campaigning against adoption of babies.
"The whole family court system, because of the secrecy which surrounds it, is vulnerable to bad practice," he said.
"Social workers are under pressure not to lose cases."
Family courts set up adoption orders and make decisions about children thought to be at risk. The evidence and the reasoning behind rulings are rarely made public.
A spokesman for Northumberland County Council said: "Legally we are unable to comment on the detail of individual cases.
"We can say that such cases can be very complex and involve a lot of information and various concerns relating to the safety of a child."
Dr Stella Newrith, a psychiatrist who has treated Miss Lyon, said she had made a significant recovery.
In a letter to Northumberland Council, she stated: "There has never been any clinical evidence to suggest Fran would put herself or others at risk and there is certainly no evidence to suggest she would put a child at risk of emotional, physical or sexual harm."
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