The number of Māori children in care rose from 54.7% in June 2013 to 61.2% of children in care in 2017. The Pākehā proportion of children in care over the same period reduced from 33.2% to 26%.[i] Between 2015 and 2018, the total number of newborn babies (under three months old) removed from their mothers and placed in State custody increased from 211 to 288. In 2018, five babies a week were being separated from their mothers – the significant majority of whom were Māori. In 2019, the number of newborn babies taken into custody dropped to 248, however, these uplifted babies remained – at 69% – predominantly Māori.[ii]