A mother jailed for cruelty to five children has given birth to her ninth child.

The baby boy was immediately taken into the care of social services and is expected to be put up for adoption.

He would have been her tenth child and the second by her current partner but the 28-year-old Brighton woman has also suffered a miscarriage.

All her children have been taken from her following the conviction.

By law, the woman cannot be named because it would identify her children.

She was released from Holloway prison, London, last year after being sentenced to two and a half years.

Lewes Crown Court heard how babies and toddlers were living in filth and squalor. Babies were fed roast dinners before they were weaned, their heads were crawling with lice and they were often ignored.

The mother and her former partner, a 40-year-old Brighton man, earlier had been acquitted of murdering two of their babies and a baby nephew.

Experts testified the children were probably smothered and the mother accused her partner of killing them, saying he did it because the babies were crying and "deserved it".

But the court could not decide which of the two was responsible and both were found not guilty.

Following a campaign by The Argus, the Home Office is considering changes to the law to punish culpable parents.

One senior social services official said: "This woman has been pregnant most of her adult life and no doubt she will have more babies.

"They will all be taken into care."