The event profiled individuals with lived experience, practitioners, researchers and policymakers, across talks and panel discussions, calling for more empathic systems that can handle complexity and nuance. 

The conference attracted more than 100 people at King’s College London’s Bush House campus and 200 people online. It was hosted jointly by researchers at King’s College London, the charity Birth Companions, the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, Lancaster University and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South London. 

Poster display of illustrations at Children's social care conference

Photo: Display of poster illustrations for the MUMS@RISC study by illustrator Tonka Uzu.

Angela Frazer-Wicks MBE, chair of the Board of Trustees Family Rights Group & Founding member of the Parents Panel chaired the event and introduced the theme of the event saying:

We really need to influence hearts and minds to bring about change for families. Policy and practise both only work if we really listen to the people who are using the system

Angela Frazer-Wicks MBE

Sally Hogg, assistant director, The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood set the scene by highlighting the evidence behind the 1001 days saying:

Relationships nurture development and buffer the impact of adversity. But relationships do not happen in a vacuum. Past and current adversity and stress makes it harder for parents to provide sensitive, nurturing care

Sally Hogg

Isabelle Trowler CBE, chief social worker for children & families said:

To everyone here today – we are a collective of change makers. We know what the problem is and we know where we need to get to. But we have to work out how – together

Isabelle Trowler CBE

Women with lived experience from Birth Companions and the advisory panel from the MUMS@RISC study then shared their views on the power of lived experience informing research and practice and what is needed to improve support.  Lived experience advisors commented:

I am not a bad person – I was in a bad situation. There needs to be more education around mental health and domestic abuse, otherwise you cannot properly understand someone’s situation

We are more than the label we are given and the box we are put into.

We want to be part of the solution and not just the problem

We are not just what is written on paper. We are your best port of call when it comes to knowing what is wrong with the system and how it can be fixed

Next, researchers shared some findings from recent research on the topic including: 

  • A third of all women in the UK who died during pregnancy or the year after between 2014 and 2022 had social care involvement
  • The rate of newborn babies in care proceedings is rising, in 2011 it was 40% of infants but by 2023 it was 52% (Centre for Child and Family Justice Research at Lancaster University)
  • There is a north-south divide in terms of care proceedings. If you live in London you have a much lower chance of your newborn being in care proceedings than in the north of England. Rates of deprivation also map on to this picture.
  • Younger children are most likely to be subject to placement orders and to be adopted
  • Access to perinatal mental health and support services from specialist midwives for women with substance abuse problems or in treatment varied substantially across the country
  • A study of 200 most recently concluded court cases involving babies found that in one third of cases a least one parent had learning disabilities or learning difficulties but this was not identified early enough, so communication about the proceedings was inadequate
  • Previous contact with children’s social care sets women up for a cycle of involvement. For example, half of the women who took part in interviews for the MUMS@RISC study grew up in the care system themselves.  

Kaat De Backer, research associate at King’s College London, ARC South London’s maternity and perinatal mental health theme who led the conference organisation said:

There are some real challenges ahead if we want to make care better for these families. But our research also found some examples of high-quality care where professionals rallied together to advocate for women and their families. Women shared in interviews how kindness and compassion made them feel seen, heard and supported which can be lifesaving

Kaat De Backer

Kaat De Backer, research associate, King's College London

In the afternoon the audience was captivated by a performance from Clean Break Theatre Company. 'Scenes from Lost Mothers' which shone a light on the real experiences of women navigating pregnancy and separation from their babies while in prison, and is based on The Lost Mothers project, carried out by Dr Laura Abbott at the University of Hertfordshire. The work was developed alongside women with experience of the criminal justice system, or those at risk of entering it. 

Clean Break Theatre company perform scenes from Lost Mothers

Photo: Clean Break Theatre company performing 'Scenes from Lost Mothers'.

Delegates then took part in discussions in breakout rooms, before reconvening at the end of the day to consolidate their reflections and talk about next steps. 

We may come to this from different angles and organisations, but the themes and conversation across breakout groups are remarkably similar: we need better connected systems, and understanding that giving families a voice makes things better for everyone

Angela Frazer-Wicks CBE

Call for evidence  

Birth Companions are now calling for evidence of services and support for women who have involvement from children’s social care in pregnancy and early motherhood using a short survey to inform the co-design of a new National Care Pathway. The survey is open to all including health and social care professionals and wider service providers; individuals and families with personal experience of children’s social care contact, academics, policymakers and the voluntary sector. Access the survey  

Find out more 

View the recordings of the day:

View the slides: