Social workers in Britain obtained a court order to have a pregnant Italian woman forcibly sedated so her child could be removed from her womb without her consent.

The story, reported by the Telegraph, has raised questions about the powers afforded to social workers in the country.

The woman's lawyer, Brendan Fleming, called the forced operation "unprecedented."

The unnamed Italian national was in Britain for a work trip when she suffered a panic attack, which her family believes happened because she didn't take her medications for bipolar disorder.

Her lawyer told the Telegraph she called police after suffering a breakdown. Cops took to her a psychiatric hospital, where she was restrained under the Mental Health Act.

After five weeks the ward, she said she was forcibly sedated. When she woke up, she was told her child had been delivered by caesarian section.

She said nobody told her this was going to happen.

Now the woman, whom Fleming said is back on meds and has made a full recovery, wants her child back.

But a judge ruled the now 15-month-old girl should be put up for adoption in case the mother suffers a relapse.

"I have seen a number of cases of abuses of people's rights in the family courts, but this has to be one of the more extreme," said Liberal MP John Hemming, who plans to raise the issue in Parliament.

Fleming said if his client was mentally unable to consent to the procedure, her family and Italian authorities should have been involved in any decisions about her, or her baby's, welfare.