Early maternal death following child removal—A short report using observational data

Abstract

Key Practitioner Messages Mothers who have a child removed from their care often face a range of vulnerabilities, such as abuse in childhood, isolation, poverty, poor mental health, domestic abuse, and substance misuse, which contribute to the reasons for their children being removed. Yet following this removal, and at a time of acute need for them due to the trauma involved, birth mothers frequently disappear from the gaze of services, as children's services are structured to meet the needs of the child. There is evidence that mothers who have a child removed are at a significantly increased risk of early death. While the need for support for the children is irrefutable, equally there needs to be specialist support for their mothers, which goes beyond children's services and involves health services.