Pregnant - will they take my baby

[Worriedmummy9192]

Hi
This is a long one but to make it a bit easier we have been to a fact finding in June and me and my ex partner (not child's dad) was accused of non accidental injury (not sure who did it but said one of us did and the other knew) that was the judgment

My child is now with his dad I has supervised contact .. supervised by family 2 days a week.
I have asked social to work with me .. if their is any courses I can go on to help but they say I'm a good mum so don't need too.
Also they keep saying it's a single issue case? What does this mean?

Anyway I am pregnant with my ex partner from proceedings ( we split up during the proceedings) it was a silly one night stand
He will not be involved (he doesn't want to be) and that's fine by me ..
but what will the social do? In court my barriester kept saying at least you can go on to have more kids (not helpful tbh at the time)
I just don't want to risk this baby being taken .. is their anything I can do to help this?

Thankyou

[doola89]

Recently found out that I am pregnant and me and my partner are terrified our baby will be removed,
I suffered with servers depression after my relationship ended and with three small children I was unable to cope,
I ended up developing sepsis after having tonsilitis and being miss diagnosed with laryngitis, I ended up in hospital for 3 weeks and left hospital very week my children had being staying with family and where returned to me the same night.
I couldn't cope I was ill and everything in my life deteriorated. And social services where involved I was never offered a restbite or anything so in the end I asked to place my daughter's with my mother and my son with my sister as my mum couldn't cope with all three, too which CS agreed.. I can honestly say biggest mistake ever I ended up loosing my children under neglect. And given supervised contact..the SS was changed and everything seemed to be going well, I got a new home ( I lost my home as I housing ben was ended and I could no longer afford it) I started a new job..then the social worker had changed again and she is horrible, had no people skills what so ever and this is well known between SS in the office as they have made comments when asking who is your new social worker.
I have recently relocated and my partner is in work training. Can I ask this case to be delt with by the new area I live in, and not have the social worker on my original case involved as the original which is being delt with in Wales and now I am in England. Me and my partner are seriously concerned as myself and my family feel as tho she has an issue with my self and my partner (2 years together) she has had him police checked even tho he hadn't ever met my children. And also asked me for his details for there records when I said I shall ask him and he asked what for she said again just for our records..then she changed and asked I he would come into the office becuase she wanted his details for a police check..he agreed but stated he would of preferd if she had been honest from the get go..to which she replied I have..Anyway the police check was done and there where no issues
What do me and my partner do,do we contact social services in England or do we mention it to a midwife..it's causing a strain between me and my partner as he is so worried as he had never had any involvement with CS

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Worriedmummy9192,

I am so sorry to hear that the court decided, at a fact finding hearing, that your son suffered non accidental injuries. It also found that the injuries were either caused by you or your then partner and that the other person knew but did not say.
Luckily, your sons dad was able to take care of him. You are seeing your son regularly- supervised by the family.

Understandably you are worried that your baby may be removed from you because of what happened to your son.

You ask about the meaning of “single issue”.
In these specific circumstances, it means whether the fact finding itself, (that you or your partner had either deliberately injured your son) is enough to prove that your new baby will be at risk from you or your exe, of suffering significant harm . So there would be no point in doing further assessments of you or you trying to prove that you are now a safe parent.

There is a very important case which might be similar to the facts in your case. In that case, the judges at the Supreme Court (highest court in the land) said that if a parent in your circumstances moved on to have children with a “new” partner, that new child was not automatically at risk. The finding of fact alone, could not predict that a parent was likely to harm a child in the future.
So a local authority could not rely on the “mere possibility” that you caused the harm to your older child or failed to protect from your exe partner. There had to be other evidence to show that your new baby was at risk. (This might be what your barrister was referring to.)

But this case may not apply to your circumstances, as the father of your unborn baby is not a new partner but your ex-partner. So your baby, if both you or dad are together, will be at risk of suffering non accidental injuries.

You say that the father is not in your life but I think children services should assess this. Are they doing so?
When is your baby due? It is very likely that there will also be a pre-birth child protection conference to decide whether your unborn baby’s name will go on a child protection plan. See the earlier link where you can read our advice sheet about child protection.

Given that it is likely that children’s services will be considering court proceedings, you should contact your legal team as soon as you can.
Your solicitor can then contact children services about you accessing pre- proceedings legal aid to advice you and attend meetings with you.
See page 8 of our advice sheet care proceedings .

I hope this helps but if you have any questions please post back.

Best wishes,

Suzie

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Doola89,

Welcome to the parents forum.

Congratulations on your pregnancy.
I am sorry to hear about the way you have been treated by the social services and the current worker on your case. It sounds like you did not get the support you needed. I am not sure how she is involved with your family. Is she providing support around contact? Do your family have court orders giving them parental responsibility such as a child arrangement order or special guardianship order?
Or have the local authority in Wales taken court proceedings?

In respect of your unborn baby, the local authority where you live now is the one who will undertake any pre- birth assessment.
Your midwife or GP will ask about previous social services/ children services involvement and a referral is likely to be made to your local children services. You can self- refer as well.

Here is information about assessments. During the assessment, the social worker will want to know about your older children and so may request information from children services in Wales.

The assessment should look at the type of support you might need, if any, to help you parent your child. So for example, you might get referred to a peri- natal mental health support, for a mental health assessment –as post- natal depression could be a risk factor.
Things seem better for you now. You have a new partner and a new home so all this will be considered as part of your assessment. Here are some FAQ’s for fathers -which might be helpful for your partner.

I hope this advice helps but if you need further advice, please post back or call our advice line on -0808 801 0366.

Best wishes,

Suzie