Breastfeeding mother forcibly separated from her baby.....again ;-(

[shonaspurtle]

This country is a disgrace

She was found sleeping rough with depression so they chucked her kids into care and stuck her in a detention centre. But it's ok because she's a failed asylum seeker.

.

A truly horrific story, makes me ashamed to be British. Off to write some emails. Well done to all the MNetters for all you are doing for this poor woman and her children.

Urban Dryad, let me know when you are coming to Bedford to visit Yarlswood, and maybe we can get together for coffee? I am on the mailing list now.

Colin, her little son, was clearly so distressed by the seperation, that he came out 'rooting' - I've had him on my chest when he woke up, and he 'roots' like a newborn. So Janipher was able to get him back on the breast, despite official neglect at Yarl's Wood. Dozens of top ranking lactation consultants had written in, pointing out the dangers of Janipher and Colin being re-united without proper lactation support - and SERCO Health and Immigration ignored everyone. The foster Mum handed him over with bottles and cans of formula.

Colin, and Janipher, had other ideas.

Colin is firmly back at the breast, with some tiny sips of formula whilst Janipher's milk supply builds.

On the formula - the staff make it up, and give it out in bottles, and the Mums have to keep it on them for hours, without fridge or storage, and are only allowed more when the bottle is finished. The Mums have to climb stairs to get to a steriliser, for the bottles, and it's a lot of work.

How those babies are managing on stale formula, kept on backs of buggies etc for hours before being fed to them... makes me weep.

The little girl has eczma, and SERCO Health staff refuse to get the prescription cream needed for her - they give generic, and only then when asked. It's locked in a cabinet and Janipher has to ask for it - only in office hours.

A midwife specialist from London phoned the unit and put a bomb under them, and they finally gave Janipher control of the cheaper eczma cream - yesterday.

I've had to sit in visits, and watch that little girl scratch and scratch and scratch...

Morgan

How can they do this??? What a huge fuss is made about sterilising bottles and not making up feeds for the whole day. And they get bottles made up for them and not even a fridge to put them in??? What has to happen before rules like that are changed? Will they change when a baby dies, ffs?

And to withhold medication so that the little girl sits in pain, scratching her skin. My dd has exzema and sometimes wakens in the night scratching and crying. To think that she would not get the relief offered by cream that is there already. It makes me so mad.

I am so upset about this, I have already sent emails to all the people you suggested and will email my friends and family too.

This is not acceptable behaviour. And we call ourselves a civilized country.

Oh...my...God, I just scanned that page. I don`t have any words to express how I feel. So "intolerable", like the article stated.

Now Ive read the rest of the thread, and Im just crying. I remember how I felt if someone even held my DD before 3 months. I was just really really anxious to have her back in my arms again. And of course, this woman`s breast milk is going to dry up. And her poor little baby is going to be wondering where his mother is.
Its just too disgusting.

Sorry, kept reading the thread. Im going to write my letter now. So relieved shes back with her children.

What I understand is this....

When the Government changed the status of asylum seekers, to having less human rights than 'normal' people in the UK, they took 'detention centres' out of the Prison Acts. So whilst people in UK prisons have rights on how they are treated, people in 'detention centres' do not have those rights.

'Dentention centres' sit in their own little grey area.

The Home Office, privatised places like Yarl's Wood, to private companies. So, SERCO is paid X amount to run them. And SERCO put in the people, and the medicos etc. If any detainee needs anything, it comes out of SERCO's profits. Directly.

So SERCO will not give anything it doens't have to to prevent major emergency or death. As it costs money...

So if you go to the SERCO health officials, and say "I need this...." unless your health in threatened in a major way, you will not get it.

Meanwhile, Immigration/The Home Office, not wanting any fuss on conditions, refuses all access to any detainee, on the grounds that "SERCO provide appropriate care".

If you challenge this, you are ignored. SERCO ignore you, as it costs money, and the Home Office ignore you as they want no fuss about how they are sending out of the country and why. Between the two - a brick wall, with barbed wire on tope, is drawn for eveyone.

The situation on medical care is so bad in these places, a special led-by-doctors support group - called Medical Justice, has been set up - to detail and challenge them

Medical Justice have seen Drs, who managed to get into and examine patients in these places, then reported to the General Medical Council for malpractice when they stated that people in the detentions centres need more medical aid than they are getting.

www.medicaljustice.org.uk/

"Harm on Removal
Officers are allowed to use "reasonable force" during C&R. The Prison Ombudsman reported in his April 2004 inquiry into racism and abuse by GSL staff at Yarl's Wood about the use of C&R on one female detainee ; "an officer twisted her neck and kept twisting her wrists and swore at her while another officer put his/her hand in her mouth so that she could not breathe". The Inquiry team viewed the CCTV and video footage of this incident and reported that: "It was clear that everything was done in line with proper procedures". "

So it's in this climate, that Janipher and her children live...

SERCO took over from the people named aboe and things are 'better'. But SERCO are now stating they want 54% of the staff in there, made redundent, to increase profits....

www.serco.co.uk/markets/homeaffairs/Copy_3_of_lowgrangerep.asp

Morgan

Thank you for the update morgangee.
What you just written makes me feel so helpless. But Ive written my e-mails. They are angry sounding and arent very practical, but perhaps those kinds of letters are just as important as the practical help that you are giving:

I was moved to write to you after reading an article in the Guardian about the horrendous treatment of Janipher Maseko, a breastfeeding
mother, who was separated from her newborn and held in a detention centre. This is intolerable and steps must be taken to ensure that this never happens again to another mother.
A mother experiences extreme anxiousness when separated from her child before 3 months or so, and the baby also experiences a trauma from the separation. I became stressed and anxious when other people simply held my baby at 4 weeks, so I cannot comprehend the mental anguish that this woman has been through.
I am spreading the word about the disgusting treatment this person received at SERCO, and I trust that the people who denied Janipher
Maseko a SHOWER and a BREASTPUMP will be made accountable for their
actions,

I have emailed all the people on the list. I hope it helps.

I'm very pleased that she mananged to breastfeed her baby agian. Imagine that first feed together. Must have been so emotional.
Poor dd 's skin

I have emailed the Prime Minister.

Someone has to step in before Yarl's Wood becomes this century's Auchwitz. In our county, that we are so fucking proud of, this should never happen.

Do you think a letter to the UN will get anywhere? What is their position on this?

I too have e-mailed the PM. It seems that we have inflicted more on this child than the country she was fleeing from. In my view, this shames us all.

Cazee can you email me at [email protected]? ta x

Keep on emailing, everyone. To find your MP's email address, click here.

If any of you actually know professionals - from medical or legal backgrounds, please get them to write to the PM, stating in their professional opinion what harm is being done to Janipher and the children by this treatment.

Copies of these letters should be cc'd to BWRAP and the Medical Justice. These can be used in the legal cases, to prove that both the UK Government knew the health risks involved.

Before she was re-united, many lactation specialists from round the world wrote to SERCO and Liam Byrne, telling them she must have proper lactation support.

When everyone is called to account - and they will be - these letters will be very useful.

Also, if you have friends in the wider world - letters coming into UK Government mailboxes from abroad, often have more weight than home ones. So spread the word!

morgangallagher.livejournal.com/91422.html

i have emailed the owner of this site off to email more people in the meedya.

I've emailed my mp.

This is unbelievably inhumane.

Why do these detention centres, like so many other institutions, have to be privatised? If they are in the private sector, how can they be adequately controlled? It's a very dangerous situation.

Poor woman and her babies (they are both babies). They know who they easy targets are, don't they?

Scroll down to the bottom of this thread for a full list of people to email - and see my link below to find your MP.

See also morgangee's post below re. getting professionals you know to send emails.

I have telephoned BMS (Baptist Missionary Society) in Kampala and e.mailed them the details so maybe they will be able to support her if and when she comes off the flight. I have not had a reply yet

'Janipher arrived at 14, after being beaten, raped and tortured in Uganda. She was an orphan at the time, and she went to college and studied hard. She learnt English, computing and enrolled in Access to Nursing courses, doing Health and Social Care. She was enrolled in a Nursing Course when the Home Office refused her funding. She was in Social Services supported housing, with both her children, when she was thrown into the streets by Social Services after the Home Office decided she must return (I have no idea how this works - but you'll be sure I'll be finding out now!). '

What. The. Fuck? I'm sorry to be blunt but for fuck's sake!!!!!

What more does a person have to do to prove they want to be have an active and useful role in our society? To have gone through all that by the age of 14, to work so hard in the face of such adversity, oh God, I've got to go...

Have emailed PM and other MPs listed in this thread. CC'd BWRAP and SERCO. Am telling anyone who'll listen to write to anyone they can think of. This is really upsetting, I hope the girl is ok.

want to be have ????? want to have I meant! Sorry, very emotional here!

The BBC don't seem to be covering this at all, so I have emailed them and told them they should. Don't know what it will achieve, but if they do cover it then at least more people will hear about it.