This is the saddest "cuts" story I've read to date.

[perfectstorm]

Those poor girls, and their poor babies. And in the general scheme of things the money is peanuts.

I know things are tough, but we're the 4th largest economy in the world (and I can't see how privatising the NHS is going to save money long-term, either - hardly like the US model is any kind of advert for cost-effectiveness). I just can't believe we're abandoning the most vulnerable in society as we are.

Its is starting to look like the new answer for a childless 35+ professonals is as follows:

cut IVF funding
take away babies from needy parents with likelihood for future neglect

its depressing

but where will money come from????

Also happy to make donations and have tweeted the article.

While this individual case is dreadful I also believe that we need to take stock and remember why it's important to publicise cases like this. I would like to see a list published of EVERY charity with this kind of facility that's facing closure due to cuts. Maybe if the magnitude of the problem is properly understood then we can show this Big Society concept up as the nonsense that it is and start doing something better / differently.

I don't know if anyone else watches trash American TV but on the couple of occasions I've seen Extreme Makeover: Home Edition I always find myself thinking, "Why does the richest country in the world need a programme like this??" I feel the same way watching Secret Millionaire.

So, how do we gather this information.....has anyone done it yet and can we broadly publicise that? Someone must have beaten me to it??

the money will come from another vulnerable group, who will have their funding withdrawn,
(no idea what mp's tv's have to do with it,)
the pot of money will not get any bigger, if money is given to this group, it will come from another group.

perfectstorm I have emailed the contacts on the website for Naomi house asking for guidance as to how best help, they may have a plan or fund going already so we could send monies direct there.

Will report back later !

"but if the government fund it, they will just take money from another vulnerable group. then what?"

No they won't if this unit closes then the baies wil go into foster care and the legal process will start. Read my other post, i have explained the full costs of this.

This would cost probably about four times as much as these types of units. Social Workers have tried to push for this type of care because it is alot cheaper than the foster care/adoption etc system.

"the money will come from another vulnerable group, who will have their funding withdrawn,
(no idea what mp's tv's have to do with it,)
the pot of money will not get any bigger, if money is given to this group, it will come from another group."

No it won't. The baby's will go into foster care and this costs a fortune. The women will more than likely return to drugs and will be pregnant again or in prison, the prison sentence will cost around four times this units cost.

It is ridiculously expensive to put pregnant women in prison.

Mind you closing this unit will keep the CP SW's in jobs in Bristol.

These women won't cease to exsist they will need care somewhere else which the government will have topay for.

perfect, an average of three women a year coming off drugs is not a good result for a charity dedicated to getting women off drugs. It is very possible this chairty would not have got anymore funding even before the cuts as there are other drug programmes with greater success rates, maybe not ones for women in these exact situations, but ones that aim to prevent drug addiction etc.

I agree with teh fact that it is cheaper in the long term to keep it open. but this government don't look at it like that, they only look at the short term, you only have to look at the way they have targeted funding for the disabled, short term saving for them, long term high cost as families break down and ,ore people are placed in residential care.

beginnings great that you've tweeted. The more we can get this out there the better. There's a link ^^ upthread too about contacting your MP.

Just waiting from some feedback from Naomi House themselves.

Hello. We think this thread belongs in 'In the News', so we'll be moving it there now - and, as it's clearly something of huge current interest, we'll sticky it there for a bit, too.

kelly it's not just getting women off drugs though is it? They are also ensuring the safety of the babies throughout that time. How much would foster care + drug treatment with a different agency cost, plus intensive social worker support when the mother gets her baby back to care for? And they are also supporting the women through leaving the sex trade, abusive boyfriends etc etc etc...I don't think your average drug treatment place does all that does it? These women must be some of the hardest to reach and to treat. I don't think you are comparing like for like.

I will donate too when I know where to sign up.

Donate here

This is indeed the saddest cuts story I have read too.

It makes me wish I had money so I could help. It also makes me angry that people who do have the money don't help.

Hello,

Thanks for drawing this thread to our attention; we agree it's a sad story.

I'm afraid we (as MNHQ) can't lead a campaign on this at the moment; we're already fully committed for the next few months with the ongoing Miscarriage Care campaign, some work on postnatal care, and our long-term involvement with things like the Libel Reform Campaign (an issue that is currently coming to a head).

We have to be careful not to take too much on, because we don't want to over-promise and under-deliver.

That said, we're very happy for MNers to use the board to organise; we've found in the past, that these board-organised campaigns can be fearsomely effective (posters on buses, anyone? )

If there's any specific help or advice you'd like from us, do let us know. Sending us a message via the 'report this post' button is often the quickest way.

Thanks
MNHQ

Oh, and we'll Tweet out a link to this thread in a minute.

Bump

"posters on buses, anyone? "

bumpppp

God love Ed Sheeran.

Thanks Rowan appreciate you're busy, so good to know we can use MN this way.

Keep tweeting folks!

Watching an amazing documenary on current tv (good channel I have just found and really good documentaries on there and typically the channel is getting axed in March!) about foodbanks. In the uk we waste 150 trolleys worth of food in the uk every minute and 1000 loaves of bread a minute. The Truswell or Treswell Agency who run a food bank through the uk said that the demand has increased hugely. The Job Centre gave an unemployed guy a food stamp and the food came from a charity running the food bank - why should that food have to come from a charity? A lady who set up breakfast clubs said that she is seeing scurvy in kids increasing and that kids from half-term come back mal-nourished. It seems to be many of the vulnerable people in this society are really going to struggle. It really is a horrible time at the moment!!

"perfect, an average of three women a year coming off drugs is not a good result for a charity dedicated to getting women off drugs. It is very possible this chairty would not have got anymore funding even before the cuts as there are other drug programmes with greater success rates, maybe not ones for women in these exact situations, but ones that aim to prevent drug addiction etc."

That isn't what they do. They keep mothers and babies together and create a family instead of a social disaster, with women who are otherwise locked in a cycle of repeated pregnancies and losing babies while drug addicted and working in the sex industry. It's a 4 bed house, they spend a long time there and are supported in mothering, how can they help more? And it isn't ALL the charity does, either - they work with sex workers in Bristol in a range of ways. This was simply a means to help some break out a horribly destructive cycle, which the charity had observed and was concerned to end.

They get drug addicted pregnant prostitutes who are losing baby after baby to the care system off drugs, out of the sex industry and into a family with their babies. And you say 10 women helped over 3 years - given there are babies involved it's actually 20 people helped. The charity isn't only helping that number of people, either; this is 1 project by that charity.

There ARE no other units like this locally, and only 3 others across the country. The average rehab isn't geared up to pregnant women.

If you think the numbers through it's 10 women out of that destructive cycle with 10 babes. That's 20 at least because if they go on to have healthier relationships they may have a family life and more babies,say one each with a DP or DH that's another 20 people who would be trapped into this negatgive and harmful lifestyle and cost the tax-payers a helluva lot more money.

The woman aren't just de-toxed. They're given counselling to address self-esteem issues, parent skills advice, and are supported towards independant living and then supported in their new lives afterwards so they don't slide back.

So it's not "just" 10 helped really!

We've just been picked up by Caitlin Moran on Twitter!

I love Twitter for it's sheer power! That's great!