The Shocking Consequences for Mums Whose Children are Taken Into Care and the Absence of Support Services Available to Them
An increasing number of women who died between 2020-2022 during pregnancy or up to six weeks afterwards in the UK were known to social services, according to data released on Thursday.
This group makes up 22% of the 275 deaths reported, according to the MBRAACE report, and has risen for the past five years. In 2012-2014, the figure was 12%.
During the same period, a further 329 women died between six weeks and one year after the end of pregnancy, the report found, and rates of maternal deaths have "increased significantly, even when deaths due to COVID-19 are excluded". While 13.56 women per 100,000 died during pregnancy or up to six weeks after, this risk doubled for women in the most deprived areas, and tripled for Black women.
Birth Companions, a charity that supports women from disadvantaged backgrounds, told Byline Times the figures are "shocking" and can no longer be ignored.
Related reading: Government Urged to 'Stop Ignoring' Plight of Single Parents as it Begins Work to Combat UK's Child Poverty Crisis
"Maternal suicide is still the leading direct cause of death between six weeks and a year after birth, and past MBRRACE reports have highlighted the fact that a large proportion of the women who died by suicide or because of substance use were at risk of having their baby removed, or dealing with the trauma of that removal," Kirsty Kitchen, Birth Companions, head of policy said.
With the number of looked-after children in England at a record high - 83,840 as of 31 March 2023 - experts warn that these statistics will keep rising until mothers are better supported to keep their children.
"At Birth Companions we have been campaigning for improvements in the care of women who experience social care involvement in pregnancy and early motherhood for many years," Kitchen explained.
Yet their needs are still largely absent from health and social care policy, and they are still struggling to access mental health services. Women are navigating one of the most traumatic experiences imaginable, alone. That has to change
Kirsty Kitchen, Birth Companions
Almost half of the women whose children are taken into care are care-experienced themselves, and many have the 'toxic trio' - professionals' morbid-moniker for domestic abuse, substance abuse and mental illness.
Child removal escalates these issues. Just over one in 10 of the women who die by suicide, and six in 10 who die through substance misuse, have had a child removed, or are subject to ongoing care proceedings.
"I know women who've had seven children taken off them," says Helen*, 39, who's also had children taken out of her care. "They self-destruct because they think they've let their kids down."
Related reading: 'It was Like a Prison Cell for Me': Children in Care, Reunited with Parents in New Initiative, Speak Out
After a judge decides to remove a child from their mother's care, she's often left without support and struggles to hold it together.
"I've walked people to local drug and alcohol services to make sure they go to appointments," says Natalie Prowse, senior lecturer in law at the University of Huddersfield.
"Parents always say they need their child back first, that they're drinking alcohol or taking drugs because they haven't got their child with them," the former solicitor continued.
The Service Desert
It's unclear who should be responsible for supporting women at risk of, or following, child removal. Councils are only legally obliged to offer short-term counselling to the birth parents of children who are adopted.
Dwindling budgets and increased demand for adult services are creating a vacuum of support, says Amy Van Zyl, chief executive of Women's Reform, an organisation in Newcastle for women who've had, or are at risk of having, children removed.
"Social workers aren't bad people," she says, "but when a child is at risk in the family home, because of vulnerabilities perceived to be p
This group makes up 22% of the 275 deaths reported, according to the MBRAACE report, and has risen for the past five years. In 2012-2014, the figure was 12%.
During the same period, a further 329 women died between six weeks and one year after the end of pregnancy, the report found, and rates of maternal deaths have "increased significantly, even when deaths due to COVID-19 are excluded". While 13.56 women per 100,000 died during pregnancy or up to six weeks after, this risk doubled for women in the most deprived areas, and tripled for Black women.
Birth Companions, a charity that supports women from disadvantaged backgrounds, told Byline Times the figures are "shocking" and can no longer be ignored.
Related reading: Government Urged to 'Stop Ignoring' Plight of Single Parents as it Begins Work to Combat UK's Child Poverty Crisis
"Maternal suicide is still the leading direct cause of death between six weeks and a year after birth, and past MBRRACE reports have highlighted the fact that a large proportion of the women who died by suicide or because of substance use were at risk of having their baby removed, or dealing with the trauma of that removal," Kirsty Kitchen, Birth Companions, head of policy said.
With the number of looked-after children in England at a record high - 83,840 as of 31 March 2023 - experts warn that these statistics will keep rising until mothers are better supported to keep their children.
"At Birth Companions we have been campaigning for improvements in the care of women who experience social care involvement in pregnancy and early motherhood for many years," Kitchen explained.
Yet their needs are still largely absent from health and social care policy, and they are still struggling to access mental health services. Women are navigating one of the most traumatic experiences imaginable, alone. That has to change
Kirsty Kitchen, Birth Companions
Almost half of the women whose children are taken into care are care-experienced themselves, and many have the 'toxic trio' - professionals' morbid-moniker for domestic abuse, substance abuse and mental illness.
Child removal escalates these issues. Just over one in 10 of the women who die by suicide, and six in 10 who die through substance misuse, have had a child removed, or are subject to ongoing care proceedings.
"I know women who've had seven children taken off them," says Helen*, 39, who's also had children taken out of her care. "They self-destruct because they think they've let their kids down."
Related reading: 'It was Like a Prison Cell for Me': Children in Care, Reunited with Parents in New Initiative, Speak Out
After a judge decides to remove a child from their mother's care, she's often left without support and struggles to hold it together.
"I've walked people to local drug and alcohol services to make sure they go to appointments," says Natalie Prowse, senior lecturer in law at the University of Huddersfield.
"Parents always say they need their child back first, that they're drinking alcohol or taking drugs because they haven't got their child with them," the former solicitor continued.
The Service Desert
It's unclear who should be responsible for supporting women at risk of, or following, child removal. Councils are only legally obliged to offer short-term counselling to the birth parents of children who are adopted.
Dwindling budgets and increased demand for adult services are creating a vacuum of support, says Amy Van Zyl, chief executive of Women's Reform, an organisation in Newcastle for women who've had, or are at risk of having, children removed.
"Social workers aren't bad people," she says, "but when a child is at risk in the family home, because of vulnerabilities perceived to be p
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