Thanks to the Alicia Patterson Foundation for funding my reporting this year on new mothers and child welfare or criminal justice interventions. Here's my latest story for the fellowship, about a woman in California who had her baby removed from her care after she checked out early from the hospital.

Tiffany Langwell was thrilled to find out she was pregnant again at the age of 38. She had two children from her first marriage — a 15-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy. After separating from their father, she had reconnected with a high school boyfriend, David Hodek, and they had gotten engaged. In August of this year, their baby girl was born healthy, at 8 pounds, with bright blue eyes and a full head of downy hair. Langwell and Hodek had what they describe as a blissful first night home. The next day, a representative of the child welfare agency in Riverside County, California, took the infant into protective custody. Click here to read the rest of the story at Cosmopolitan.com.