Will Social Services want my baby?

[zse4xdr5]

Hi, I am new, so sorry if I have posted this in the wrong section. I had a look and didn't find any posts exactly the same as my situation...

Background
I had a baby in 2004 with my partner at the time. Our relationship didn't last, and he wasn't that bothered about our son but his parents were. A year later I had a new partner, and whilst visiting him there was an incident. The police were called as one of the neighbors had reported seeing my partner assaulting my son. He was arrested, I was also arrested as I said I had not seen the incident. My son was taken by the police and that was the last time I ever had him in my care. The whole case went to court and finished with a 'finding of fact' which found that I had failed to protect my son, despite the fact he had no injuries consistent with the type of physical abuse the witness had seen, and despite the fact that no one else in the area (at least 50 flats) has seen or heard anything, and the witness changing his version of events several times.

My son was officially placed with his father (who wasn't actually the one even looking after him), 3 hours away (by this point he had been there a considerable time during the proceedings). Weekly contact continued for some years, then it reduced to fortnightly

I could go on about the above situation, and what I believe was unfair but I would be here all week

Present
My son is now 12 and I have not seen him since he was 7, because he apparently does not want to see me. Although I cannot actually verify this myself. I have been to court for a contact order, which was initially granted, but his father didn't even pretend that he would stick to it and did not. In the end I ended up with a indirect contact order, my son never responds to any of my cards, letters, gifts etc.

As a result of this I have suffered from bouts of depression which will be recorded on my medical files.

I got married in 2014, and I am now 23 weeks pregnant. I have been paying my sons father £200 a month in maintenance, and I am concerned that when I inform him of my situation and request a reduction in payments he is going to be very upset as he has made it clear on several occasions that paying anything less than £200 a month would be unacceptable. I think he may call social services on me due to the situation from over 10 years ago (and he is now a social worker himself), as he still seems to bring it up at every opportunity.

Advice
As my life is totally different now is there any chance social services could use the past to want to take this baby? My husband and I both have good stable jobs, no debt, no criminal records etc.

Any advice or information would be appreciated, as my past experiences with Social Services do not fill me with confidence that they will take a fair and unbiased view the situation.

Sorry for writing so much, thanks for taking the time to read this.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear zse4xdr5

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board. I am Suzie one of FRG’s online advisers.

It seems as if you went through a really difficult time in relation to the past Childrens’ Services involvement with your older child.

Congratulations on your pregnancy. However, I can see that you must be worried about whether the past is going to repeat itself second time round.

It is likely that the midwife may wish to refer you for a pre-birth assessment to establish if any family support or further intervention is required. Nevertheless, it is important to remember, even if a social worker does become involved, it does not necessary mean that you should fear the worst at this time. As part of assessing your family’s support needs, they would probably request your permission to contact other agencies.

For instance, the G.P., midwife or anyone else that may know your family will be asked to report back about what is known about you. Part of the assessment will be to establish your willingness to engage and whether you would be able to ask for support if required. Alternatively, a pre-birth child protection conference could be held to see if a muulti agency child protection plan is required.

You will have the opportunity to comment on the completed report and any recommendations that are made.

If you wish to discuss your situation in further detail, please feel free to contact our advice line on 0808 801 0366 Monday to Friday 09.30 am to 03.00 pm.

Best Wishes

Suzie