To think SS killed autistic mother

[YourHazelScroller]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/young-autistic-mum-took-life-32626429

Severe mental health issues does not equal likely to harm child

Guess SS didn't want to take the chance. I haven't read the article but I have read of mother's killing their children or harming them. It does happen sadly. I can see their line of thinking.

Yes they should have offered support it’s terrible that they didn’t

In the past when the legal aid system actually functioned, parents solicitors would go through documents with parents, in person. Since the govt cut legal aid to the bone, the number of hours it actually translates to means that it has become common for solicitors to email documents to parents and say that they don't have allotted hours to go through anything. It feels very oppressive. That isn't a criticism of the legal staff, they aren't going to work for free.

Where I live the only advocacy service is one that supports people with a significant intellectual disability, only a minority of people with autism would qualify for it. It's not just a case of services being cut, they just don't exist any more. The system just doesn't work fairly but because it doesn't affect the majority of people who vote, the politicians aren't interested in fixing it. It's really sad.

ONE is too many when they constantly talk about their mental health problems front of their children and talk about killing themselves in front of their children yes ONE is too much!

But that wasn't the way she should have found out. The Senior Coroner said, He added that the lack of an independent advocate and the way in which news indicating the adoption of Fern’s child was communicated to her was contributing more than minimally to her decision to end her own life. So he put blame on SS and the solicitor but he didn't say either was the sole cause.

The Senior Coroner had all the facts so I think I will go with his view.

they who is the they.

Reading the inquest it wasn't a simple situation.
Multiple agencies didn't work together.
There was no nominated advocate

She was a high risk case and I'm guessing things went down hill rapidly after birth to have the baby removed.

Imo this isn't about autism, it's about a vulnerable person who become pregnant who didn't get a chance as the support wasn't there - though I don't know what form this support would be I suppose.

It's sad and I hope all the services learn from it

Has anybody actually read the articles linked? Because the information is in there.

I think it is about autism - it’s a disability so she should have been given the highest level of support due to that and to have not done so was discriminatory

Yes. And I think the narrative verdict was well written

It isn’t, though. Lots of key information is, understandably, missing.

Her child was already being fostered. Sadly the woman self harmed as a coping mechanism in the past, though she allegedly stopped when pregnant and after the birth.
It's terribly sad but for whatever reason it was deemed in the child's interests to go to another family. The poor woman was obviously devastated, but her MH was an issue before, hence why the child wasn't with her in the first place. I get the slight impression if the woman had been from a more ethnic or 'lower class' background her dealings with SS could have been looked at with less sympathy from the public or press?
It's really tragic what happened but it's too facile to blame SS directly.

"Several agencies, including Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and Buckinghamshire Council social services, had contact with Fern in the months before her death, but the coroner said it was probably the case that no one agency had a complete understanding of Fern’s needs"

She was failed by the people that were supposed to help her.

"No communication plan had been put in place and the coroner said the manner in which the adoption plans were communicated to her also contributed to her death.
The plans were emailed to her partner by his solicitor and when Fern was told, she had no physical professional support around her to help her cope with the distress this caused."

Heartbreaking. Who knows how we would react reading that email? I can't be 100% certain I wouldn't have done the same as Fern in that situation. Her poor baby.

The inquest judge did

Everyone doesn't have mental health issues or is depressed to the extent that their children are removed.
Plenty of 'unstable' mothers may well should have had their children taken into some sort of foster care, at least in the short term, for everyone's benefit, and some 'unstable' mothers may not be as unstable as you think they are.

Yeah you can't tell someone something like that by email. A follow up email sure.

But again, it’s not clear. The solicitor may have been under the impression it had already been communicated by SS to Fern — he emailed her partner, not her. It’s not clear whether it was her partner (who isn’t mentioned elsewhere, so not possible to know how involved he was) who told her, or whether he thought she knew already.

True true

I very recently have been involved with a ss situation with a close friend. And I can categorically say that ss lie, fail to deliver on promises, use blackmail on parents with mental health issues.

The very last court hearing of the case, the ss worker was pointed at by the judge. He rose his voice and told the ss worker and the rest of the team that they infact caused more mental health issues. He laid the blame entirely on ss.

I fully agree.

i don’t understand why the baby was removed after one month if Fern had stopped self harming? If she was struggling why didn’t her mother and sister (who appear to care about her in the article) come and help her with her newborn? If she had a partner why wasn’t he helping? Being autistic and suicidal doesn’t get your children taken from you (in my own personal experience. ) there must be more that cannot be shared due to confidential reasons to protect the child such as where is the child now? Did she get adopted? Why didn’t her granny or auntie raise her after her mum sadly died?

Poor lady, imagine the distress she was in reading that email. I agree that she needed to be told in a way that helped her come to terms with this news. She has Mh issues and maybe removing the child was best, but the way in which it was done was just awful. Poor baby too, so much trauma.

This is why you need both parents to raise a child. Mental health problems and all sorts of things can creep up and we all need someone to share the load of childbearing with even if they’re not the ideal partner. Maybe SS could save money in the long run by focusing on helping single parents into relationships.

Imagine spouting off opinions and telling others their posts are odd when you admit you haven’t even read the article 😑

“Maybe SS could save money in the long run by focusing on helping single parents into relationships.”

…what? 😂
A child is most at risk from a mother’s new partner.