Pregnant women with a history of infant removal
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The experiences and support needs of pregnant women who have had a previous infant removed from their care, and of midwives who care for them.
IRAS ID
302208
Contact name
Alison McFadden
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Dundee
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Women with a complex social history are at increased risk of having their infant removed from their care. Often, they enter a damaging cycle of pregnancy and infant removal, which is known to have long-term implications including enduring grief, shame, poor mental and physical health.
The UK has over 100,000 children registered as a ‘Looked after’, representing a significant emotional burden for parents, extended families, and a financial obligation for local authorities. For social work, the focus is safeguarding the unborn baby; engaging with the pregnant woman to inform their care recommendations for the baby after birth. Often contact between the mother and social worker reduces after the infant has been removed leaving the mother feeling stigmatised and isolated. Additionally, interventions designed to engage with women who have a history of infant removal focus on preventing further pregnancies thereby reducing the number of children entering the care system.
Anecdotally, specialised midwifery care has shown to improve maternal outcomes and reduce the number of babies removed at birth. However, the midwife’s dual duty of care to mother and baby can cause role ambiguity and stress for midwives. The emotional impact on midwives to care for women is well documented, however, research is limited exploring midwives’ experiences of supporting pregnant women with a history of infant removal.
To date, research has explored the experiences of women who have had an infant removed from their care through retrospective recollections of their pregnancies. Therefore, this proposed research will offer both a unique insight into how women with a history of infant removal experience pregnancy and examine the implications for midwifery practice.
Additionally, with midwifery care provision in the UK due to transition to caseload midwifery this research will be timely in informing service providers of the needs of extremely vulnerable woman.
REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
21/WA/0350
Date of REC Opinion
2 Nov 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion