Protect women in pre-birth care proceedings

There are well-established links between maternal deprivation and care proceedings, and high levels of pre-existing trauma, mental ill-health, domestic abuse and substance use among women involved with social care. So it’s sadly not surprising that recent analysis has shown a high and increasing rate of social care involvement among women who die during pregnancy, childbirth and the year after birth. We should all be deeply concerned by these trends, and commit to reversing them with urgency.

We can’t do that without making sure health and social care can work together to address women’s complex needs. The latest MBRRACE report on maternal deaths noted that postnatal support, including mental health services, for women separated from their babies, was severely lacking. For example, women receiving specialist perinatal mental health services lost access to this support when their babies were removed. That report also reiterated something we see every day in our services; that fears of child removal often influence women’s willingness to disclose symptoms of mental ill-health or substance misuse.