The needs of women who have involvement from children’s social care while pregnant or during the first two years of their child’s life are acute, yet all too often overlooked, amid siloed and overstretched services.
That must change if we are to reverse deeply concerning trends: the increasing rate of care proceedings; worsening maternal outcomes; and growing numbers of women who die during pregnancy, birth and the year after birth while subject to child protection proceedings or having had a child removed.
That’s why we at Birth Companions have published ‘The Birth Charter for women with involvement from children’s social care’, setting out 14 principles to inform policy, commissioning, and professional practice, supported by current evidence and insights from women with direct personal experience.
The Birth Charter highlights examples of good practice in councils.
Salford’s Strengthening Families service, for example, has been developed to provide an ‘integrated and agile’ early help and social care system that demonstrates the value of breaking down the barriers between services and systems.
In Lambeth’s Flourish service, practitioners work with women in a holistic way, including all the important people in their lives, and aim to improve all systems’ responses to families.
But good local practice must translate into an improved national picture. Birth Companions is calling for a national health and social care pathway for pregnant women and mothers of infants subject to pre-birth or parenting assessment, or child protection proceedings.
Compassionate, trauma-informed and fair treatment could mitigate risks for mothers and babies, reduce the number of avoidable separations, and improve health and social care outcomes for women and their children.
Local government is a linchpin for socially connected communities and of fundamental importance in making this urgent need a reality.
- More information on the Birth Charter is available on Birth Companions’ website. Birth Companions is a national charity working to improve the lives of women and babies who experience inequality and disadvantage during pregnancy and early motherhood