NO-ONE wants to add to the heartbreak of a mother who has lost her child, but the case of the baby left with a child minder who was really incapable of caring for any child does underline the need for young mothers to think for a long time before they decide to go out to work if their husband is earning good money.

Surely, it is worth sacrificing a second car or holidays abroad for the sake of giving a child the one thing money can't buy - a mother's love in its first years.

The child minder who lied about her past should also be pitied as she has had a tragic life and no doubt was an unwanted child herself.

She will go through hell in prison as the other prisoners always turn upon child killers.

Please, young mothers, do be prepared to make some sacrifices for the sake of your children and don't put material things first.

Never leave a child with anyone who is not a relative or a close friend you can trust until the child is old enough to tell you if it is not being well treated - and always listen to a child.

RUTH BRAITHWAITE, Edmund Gennings Court, Chatburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.