The importance of advocacy in supporting mothers in contact with social care
Our Operations Director Louise Abbs highlights the importance of advocacy, holistic support, and joined-up pathways when supporting mothers in contact with social care.
Advocates play a critical role in ensuring that mothers’ voices are heard, particularly when they are navigating complex systems like health services and children’s social care. Without advocacy, mothers may experience decisions being made about them or their children without their perspectives being fully understood or represented.
A recent research article: 'Support, not judgement': links between children's social care involvement and maternal deaths revealed highlights the links between children’s social care involvement and maternal deaths, and raises important considerations for our practice and the support we provide to parents.
The study, led by researchers at Oxford University and the charity Birth Companions, analysed data from 1,695 women who died during or in the year after pregnancy. Of these, 420 were known to children’s social care — a higher proportion than previously reported.
Key findings include:
- Women with social care involvement faced higher risks of suicide, mental health-related deaths, and homicide compared to those without such involvement.
- Many had experienced domestic abuse, childhood trauma, pre-existing health conditions, and substance use, illustrating the complex challenges these mothers faced.
- Services often operated in isolation, creating overwhelming schedules of appointments and focusing primarily on the child’s safety, sometimes overlooking the mother’s own needs.
As Kaat De Backer, first author of the study, explains:
Too often, the professionals the women are in touch with don’t work together to provide holistic care, which increases the pressure on a mother. When women have access to designated multi-disciplinary teams, with specialist knowledge and capacity to provide integrated and holistic care, these barriers can be overcome.
Naomi Delap, Director of Birth Companions, adds:
To help improve things, we need coordinated national policy and clear expectations across the health and social care systems.
This research reinforces why advocacy is vital: advocates help ensure that mothers aren’t overlooked, that their experiences are considered, and that support is tailored to their needs.
VoiceAbility previously funded a pilot in Cheshire which instigated an important report written and led by our Practice Lead, Meryl Sitch, highlighting the value of Parental Child Protection Advocacy. This work demonstrates the positive impact advocacy can have in supporting mothers, safeguarding children, and improving multi-agency collaboration.
I hope this research can become part of the conversation in health and social care settings to highlight the importance of holistic support, advocacy and the need for joined-up pathways.