Hello everyone,

If this is in the wrong forum, my apologies. Mods, please feel free to move this to the right one if need be.

Recently my best friend's niece had a baby. Her niece, which we'll call Sarah, is abusive towards her child. She yells at the baby when she has to change her, screaming, and throws things around in a violent manner. She also slaps the baby's face when the child cries, which only terrifies the child even more. My friend has seen quite a few marks and bruises on the baby's body. I haven't seen Sarah do this personally, this is merely things that my best friend has told me. Sarah also suffers from bipolar and is refusing to take her meds. My friend is scared for the baby and goes over to her niece's house to "watch the baby" but she really goes over there to keep an eye on her niece's behavior. Sarah still lives with her parents.

Sarah's parents think that she is the best parent in the world but my friend knows this is obviously not the case. I told my friend that she should get the baby out of that situation if she is scared for the child. I also told her that if she tries to take the child without calling the cops that Sarah could say that my friend is attempting to kidnap her child, and the law would be on Sarah's side, not my friend's. (If that is not correct, please let me know.) I am urging my friend to call CPS, and she will not budge on this. Now that she has told me of her niece's abuse towards her child, I can't stop thinking about it. Should I call CPS since my friend won't? Do I have the right to, since I am not part of the family? (I have known my friend for 20 years, and the niece for her entire life.)

I should also mention that the child's father is not in the picture. I pray for this child to be kept safe. I knew that there was a danger of Sarah being abusive towards her child from the minute that she got pregnant. Also, this baby is about 2 weeks old.

What do you guys think I should do?