A young mother, who turned her four-year-old daughter over to the care of her father, has claimed that she did what was best for the child.

Roseann Davis, 20, of Cedar Avenue, Pembroke, was responding to claims made by the father to The Royal Gazette in a story about single parents.

In that story 25-year-old Shawn Smith told of the joy and pain of raising his child. Mr. Smith said he was raising his daughter, Roshunte, alone with no help from the mother.

But Ms Davis denied she did not help with the upbringing of Roshunte.

She said she was outraged after reading the story on single parents which included a photo of her daughter and Mr. Smith of Warwick. Although she did not dispute the fact that Roshunte lives with her father, Ms Davis stressed that she was not a bad mother. She said she loved her daughter very much.

She explained that she had her daughter when she was 16. And while she took care of her by herself for a while, she said she gave her daughter to the father during a time of financial crisis.

"I felt Shawn was a responsible parent,'' Ms Davis said. "But I can't believe he did this.'' Mr. Smith, whose interview appeared in Monday's edition of The Royal Gazette , told of how raising his daughter had changed his life. Ms Davis said she did not object to the interview, only to the fact it implied she did not care about her daughter.

"I have a full time job as well as a part time one,'' she pointed out. "I could spend more time with her but it's hard.'' Ms Davis said the birth of her second child, a year later, made it harder for her and as a result she decided to give Roshunte to her father while she "got on her feet. I do care about my daughter,'' she said. "I never bad mouth Shawn, and he tells me he understands my situation.'' Although Mr. Smith never mentioned Ms Davis by name and stayed away from personal attacks, the sting of seeing her daughter in the paper and the issue it concerned left her visibly shaken. She said: "This is embarrassing. At the time I thought it was best she (Roshunte) stay with her father, so why does that make me a bad mother?''