Can social services take my unborn baby?

[JenniTia5]

Hi.. I have a 6 year old daughter who was forcely adopted in may this year.. She had been on a child protection plan since she was born.. I was 16 when she was born..
I had post natal depression and she was placed with her father at the age of 1.. I was having supervised contact up until her dad gave her me back in July 2013.. He wasn't allowed to do this buy they didn't take her off me.. My landlord caused me alot of trouble so my daughter was placed in foster in care Feb 2015 I never for her back she was placed for adoption and adopted in may this year. I have completely turned my life around but I'm scared there gonna take my baby :(

I am only 5 weeks pregnant but the midwife has already referred me to social services ??

If you've had previous social services involvement then your midwife has to refer you & baby to social services. I can't tell you whether they will remove your baby, or whether they'll place them on a child protection plan etc but you will have to prove that you have drastically changed your circumstances when they contact you.

There is a new Community Midwife support programme too support young mums in your situation, was extended this year. Supports young mum's and chid from conception until child is age 2yrs 6Months , objective too keep children with their mum's and out of care. Google Yvonne Roberts journalist see her articles for The Observer " Bringing up baby new hope for......." should explain details and system.
Could ask and show them the new support system's in place and request help.

Anxious is right - you need to PROVE that you have turned your life around. So not just promiising or hoping that things will be different this time .

So you need to look at the problems last time and show how things are different now .

Eg you have a stable tenancy in a decent property , your are clean / sober , you're not in trouble with the police, you have reliable friends or family to support you, youre not in a relationship with a man who is violent or abusive , you are getting support for any mental health problems

I'm a bit confused about your daughter - you say she lived with you from birth to one, then with her dad until she was four, and then again with you from 4-6. If she was well cared for with you, why on earth did she go into foster care in February just because of your housing problems ?

And why did she get adopted after 3 months in care ? That seems very odd indeed. Usually it takes SS a long time to assess all potential family members and then find adopters .

I fear that you are not being completely honest with yourself about why your daughter was adopted . And YOU need to face these issues, because if you don't, you could lose your baby too .

If SS and the courts had enough evidence of your poor parenting 6 months ago to grant an adoption order , you will have an uphill struggle to show them that things are totally different now .

I'm sorry for what you have been through, it's a heartbreaking thing to lose a child under any circumstances

See also on Webb "Family nurse partnership " for advice on intervention's
and support. , is same as my 1st post.

jenn I'm sorry you are in this stressful situation. It's highly likely that social workers will be involved in your pregnancy as they will want to ensure that your baby is safe and will be well cared for.
Can I recommend you look at these linked websites. The first will give you lots of contacts/links/information on child protection and what social workers may be working with you on. The second is a blog written by a mum who has been involved in care proceedings with her own children and has recently successfully secured the return if her baby after a foster placement that was moving towards adoption. It is very honest and the author gives excellent advice to parents facing these issues. I can't recommend strongly enough that you spend time reading them.
www.childprotectionresource.org.uk/
survivingsafeguarding.co.uk/