“I can’t sleep, I am terrified”: The number of mothers who are taken away in England within a few days after birth | Social welfare

ELLA* brought her daughter to the world in a London hospital last week. Days later, still in the same busy hospital, she appeared through a laptop in a court hearing and fought an urgency order from the council who wants to take care of her baby.

“I don’t eat properly. I can’t sleep because I’m afraid. I just want to go home with my baby, ”she said observer this weekend. “I don’t have the feeling that they give me a chance.”

In the years 2022 to 2023, almost 3,000 newborns of childcare procedures in England, as can be seen from an analysis of state data by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO), which was exclusively shared with the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO) observer.

This has been an increase of almost 20 % since 2012-2013, and experts and lawyers argue that an earlier intervention and better support from a series of overloaded and underfunded services would have made it possible for many of these babies to stay with their mothers.

The NFJO And others are concerned about the sheer number of these cases, although they admit that some babies have to be taken into care due to problems such as addiction and domestic violence. Sometimes this is triggered by a really unexpected emergency, for example by a psychotic episode of a mother.

However, in most cases, they say that it is not necessary for the councils to try to confiscate a baby in a legal panic at the last minute. They demand an end to the “inhuman” practice, to be expected to defend themselves in legal proceedings, sometimes with less than a day of advance, although the councils have known for months that they have been defending themselves in legal proceedings, which have just been born a child who have just gave birth to a child who had just been in need of protection. the child was on the way.

The observer Examples of women were given, of which they were expected to take public transport to the court immediately after birth, in one case with an infusion after a caesarean section and with the curtains in a lively station, so that mothers of the important hearing can attend virtually.

The NFJO found that 80 % of mothers, whose newborns in England and Wales were subject to a care process, were informed seven days or less about a judicial hearing to take their newborn in 2022/2023. Almost 20 % were informed about a hearing that should take place on the same day.

In the case of Ella, her lawyer said that the municipal council had had concerns many months before her delivery, but still issued an emergency action at the last minute while lying on the delivery station.

Like many of the thousands of women who work in their position every year, Ella was in care and has a complex trauma history. After the death of her first child at the age of five months, she suffered from a post -traumatic stress disorder that the police examined and came to the conclusion that no further measures were taken.

During her pregnancy, Ella foke with the perinatal psychiatric service And the local drug abuse service. The court was informed that it had been positively tested for cannabis during her pregnancy.

Since she knew that social services would be concerned, she informed the city council of Ealing in June that she was pregnant in the tenth week. In the hearing on Thursday, judge David Willans, a judge at the West-London family court, found that this was “unusual” and courts more often with “parents who put their heads in the sand”.

However, despite this early interaction and the series of meetings for child protection and legal planning, which was held in the coming months and that it was about the “danger of serious damage” for the baby, said Ella’s lawyer Oliver Conway from the law firm Oliver Fisher : She informed the court that she went into birth without a clear idea of ​​what would happen afterwards.

She received court documents in the hospital two days after the birth.

Family members who agreed to support Ella in looking after the baby and whose data sent them to Ealing in December were neither contacted nor assessed by the Council, said Conway.

Conway described the experience of his client as “deeply traumatic” and said in a written declaration in court: “The behavior of this LA [local authority] has violated all best practices. They acted without transparency, without care and without compassion. “

His statement added: “She had to give [legal] Instructions for very private affairs from your hospital bed, in the corridors and kitchens of the stations, without any privacy. ”

At the hearing, all parties agreed that Ella and her baby will be moved to a mother-child department until a further court hearing in February, where they will live under strict surveillance.

A spokesman for the city council of Ealing said: “The guarantee of security and well -being of children, adolescents and adults in need of protection is of central importance for our social work practices, as well as for everyone in the whole country that are committed to protection.”

“This is a complex legal case, so we cannot react directly to it at the moment.

“The court does not yet have all the evidence that requires a decision. The court sets a schedule for the matter and ensures that all relevant facts are available before making a final decision. The Council will continue to present its evidence to the court as part of this process.

“We are very proud of our social support teams who work extremely hard in very difficult situations to support endangered children and families.”

Karen Broadhurst, professor of social work at the Lancaster University and expert in childcare procedures at birth, said: “In the northeast it is not unusual that councils have to initiate procedures where the mother has to appear physically immediately afterwards.”

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She added: “I was told by a mother with an infusion drop in my arms that had a caesarean section and tried to find his way around public transport.”

In one Current research work Prof. Broadhurst called for a “fundamental review” of these urgency procedures and interviewed a legal guardian who said: “We expect parents to give their best in court when they have just left their baby – with great fear.” Take the baby away while you’re gone. “

Broadhurst said it was common for fresh -baked mothers who are faced with this situation not know that they would have to go to a lawyer. A midwife quoted in the newspaper described her horror when “a man in the suit” arrived unannounced on the ward. “He just served her and I watched and couldn’t believe what happened. This woman had only released the day before. “

Sonya* learned last year when she was in the 20 week pregnant that her baby may be taken into care. “They only told me a week before my birth that I needed a lawyer and when I was born I still had no one. I tried a lot, but they didn’t contact me, ”she said observer.

Her midwife found a lawyer who convinced the judge that Sonya should be temporarily accommodated in a mother-child department. In the meantime, she successfully lives with her baby.

Sonya, who grew up in nursing, said: “It was hard. Everyone has this impression of them because of what they saw. But now it’s going well. I’m just so happy that I and he could stay together. “

Many others are less lucky. Lisa Harker, director of the NFJO, said: “We received shattering statements from mothers who gave birth to their child and were sent to a house full of baby things alone.

“That happens and everyone looks away together. There is a process that takes care of you when your child is born dead. But there is nothing for mothers who lose their baby in this way. “

Kaat de Backer, who researches the effects of child withdrawal after her work as a midwife on King’s College London, recalls: “When I first experienced how a mother was physically separated from her child, I found it really stressful.

“You need training to deal with it. I didn’t know how to support this mother in her grief and loss. ”

In one Current research work for the European journal for midwivesDe Backer argued that these mothers had normally experienced considerable trauma in their lives and that the loss of their baby often triggered an “acute crisis”.

She found that a third of women ended up in court within two years, often because they had received another baby to coping and that this child was also taken into care.

Harker said: “Mothers, midwives, lawyers, lawyers and judges all tell us that the way we do it is inhumane.” It is no way to ensure justice. Everyone agrees, but it still happens. “

A spokesman for the Ministry of Education said: “We are committed to helping families to stay together wherever this is certainly possible. Therefore, we reform the system to concentrate on previous interventions and to ensure that family networks are always consulted with decisions. ”Put a child in a care.”

* Names have been changed.