Women who have had children removed from their care are 14 times more likely to die prematurely, a new study involving an SPS academic finds
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The high number of premature deaths among women who have experienced the repeat removal of children from their care has been investigated in a recent a study involving School of Social and Political (SPS) academic Professor John Devaney.
Professor Devaney, Centenary Head of Social Work at the University of Edinburgh and Head of School at SPS, collaborated with Pause – a national charity that works with women who’ve had more than one child removed from their care – and researchers from The University of Birmingham on the study. The result was a paper exploring the enduring impact on parents once a child has been removed. The paper investigates how this life event intersects with existing disadvantages and poor circumstances, such as poor mental health, problematic substance use and domestic abuse, alongside poverty and racialisation, to cause further health inequities and ultimately, premature death.
Based on Pause’s learning and observational data from the past decade, the paper finds that women who have had children removed from their care are 14 times more likely to die prematurely from a variety of causes, including ill-health, suicide, substance overdose and homicide.
The researchers stress that there is currently no statutory obligation to deliver post-removal support to birth parents and conclude that, with a new government in place, now is an important opportunity to ensure the health needs of this group of vulnerable women are considered as a priority.
Professor Devaney said:
“This exploratory study is about more than statistics – it is about the lost lives of mothers in the wake of children’s removal into care. While children sometimes do need to be placed in alternative care, as a society, we should strive to help support mothers, and fathers, to get their life back on track. There is a stigma associated with a child’s removal into care. This should not act as a barrier to parents receiving support and accessing services. Our initial research with colleagues from Pause is hopefully the beginning of both understanding and addressing this phenomenon of early death.”