Pre birth assessment

[Expectingtwins]

What is a pre birth assessment and what is the likely outcomes

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Expectingtwins

Welcome to Family Rights Group’s (FRG) parents’ discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie, FRG’s online adviser.

First of all, congratulations on your twin pregnancy. You haven’t given any information about your circumstances so I am unable to give any tailored advice but can help provide an overview of what to expect. If you do want to ask more specific questions do post back with some more details, taking care not to provide any information which would identify you and your family or the people working with you.

It is important to say that it is not possible to predict what the outcome of your pre-birth assessment will be; your situation is unique to you and the assessment should take account of your individual circumstances and needs.

A pre-birth assessment, as the name suggests, may be carried out by a social worker prior to the birth of a baby or, in your case, babies. You can find a brief explanation of what an assesssment is here. The social worker will want to find out more about your situation, including talking to you and your family and other professionals who know you, to decide whether you need support to care for your children once they are born. It is really important that you co-operate with this assessment so they take account of your views. If you are a young parent or vulnerable in any way do try to get some support from an advocate or involve a trusted person to support you in the process.

The assessment will consider what support you may need to care for the babies once they are born. This could be offered to you as a child in need plan. However, if there are concerns that the babies may not be safe or well-cared for when they are born the social worker may arrange a pre-birth child protection conference while you are pregnant to decide what plans need to be in place to keep your children safe when they are born.

If for any reason the social worker and professionals working with you are so concerned about the risk to your babies that they think you may not be able to care for them after the birth they may advise you that they intend to apply for a court order to remove them from your care. You should seek urgent legal advice from a specialist solicitor. Also think about who in your family and friends network could help you care for the babies or could be potential carers for the babies if you cannot and tell your solicitor and the social worker about them. You can ask for a family group conference (FGC) to help with this.

Do work with your midwife and any other health or other professionals during your pregnancy and afterwards. If you or your partner are vulnerable because of domestic violence, mental or physical health problems or substance misuse or any other difficulty try to access the help you need now or ask the social worker to support you to do so. It can also be a good idea to find out about local parenting support services or classes that you can access during pregnancy or afterwards.

You can find lots of information in FRG’s need help or advice section or in our specialist : Young Parents’ Advice website. Please do take a look.

You are very welcome to post back or to ring the Freephone advice helpline to speak to an adviser – the number is 0808 8010366 and we are open Mon – Friday from 9.30 am to 3.00 pm.

Best wishes

Suzie