A self-described "deadbeat" mother of a boy who died in a squalid Melbourne home has collapsed in court, as she and her husband faced charges over his death.
The five-year-old died after cutting his foot on a tin of cat food left lying among piles of rubbish inside the house in 2012.
The mother and father, both aged in their 40s, pleaded guilty to two charges each of reckless conduct endangering their two sons.
Prosecutor Susan Borg said the floor of the couple's home was covered with rotting food, faeces, open packets of food, bottles and cat food.
"Two years prior (to the boy's death) the premises was one of squalor," she told their Victorian County Court plea hearing on Thursday.
"The walls were covered in filth."
As Ms Borg was speaking the mother collapsed in the dock, which prompted calls for medical help.
The mother earlier described herself as a "deadbeat" when asked to detail her occupation.
Ms Borg told the court the boy almost severed his toe in the house several days before he died.
But she said an autopsy could not directly link the cutting of his toe to his death, or determine a clear cause of death.
The two boys were placed in danger of bacterial infection by the faeces in the house and physical danger by the open tins of food littering the floor, Ms Borg said.
The couple, who cannot be named, married in the late-1990s and had two boys.
They also pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to register the birth of their deceased son.
After the mother's collapse, Chief Judge Michael Rozenes adjourned the case to have her assessed medically.
The matter will return to court on October 22.
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