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Contents

1. Introduction
2. Providing Support to the Expectant Mother

1. Introduction

The number of Looked After young women becoming pregnant each year, and who are the responsibility of this Bradford MBC, is relatively small. However, when pregnancy occurs it is important that the Children’s Social Care responds in a clear and co-ordinated way, to ensure that the needs of the mother and the expected child are properly addressed.

All expectant mothers who are Looked After – either by virtue of being Accommodated or subject to a Care Order – will require support, which may need to be provided from a variety of sources. The welfare of the expected child must also be addressed at as early a stage as possible to ensure that potential risks to the child and/or future support requirements are identified, and plans put in place to meet those risks or requirements.

2. Providing Support to the Expectant Mother

Staff are also reminded that all young women who are pregnant & Looked After are a particularly vulnerable group and should be referred by their social worker to appropriate agencies for support. Advice should be sought from relevant agencies including Health, Youth Service and Education.

Expectant mothers who are Looked After may be in a variety of placements e.g. fostered; local residential; “out of authority” purchased care; at home; living independently, but all of them will have a case holder identified from within the Looked After Teams at Springfield, although other staff from within the Division may also be involved e.g. Independent Living Team; Fostering Unit; residential staff. It is important that all relevant personnel are involved, from the beginning, in planning support for the expectant mother and baby.

Assessment of Needs or the unborn child

1. In all cases, where a Looked After young woman becomes pregnant, the case holder will undertake an Initial Assessment. See Initial Assessment Procedure.
   
   This Initial Assessment will determine whether on the basis of the case holder’s knowledge of the young person and their history, the expected child is likely to be a Child in Need to whom services should be offered via Children’s Social Care or other agencies, or is potentially a child who will be at risk of significant harm. The assessment will also address the needs of the expectant mother.
2. If the Initial Assessment indicates a relatively low level of concern e.g. the expectant mother is in a stable and supportive placement; has engaged positively with Children’s Social Care regarding her pregnancy; and has the potential to provide safe care for the child, then the Looked After Team will ensure that all relevant services are made available to the mother and, subsequently, the child. All assessments will be read by, discussed with, and ‘signed off’ by the social worker’s Senior Care Manager. The development of such planning and support will also be scrutinised within the independently chaired statutory review process.
3. If the child is assessed as potentially being at risk, or is subsequently felt to be at risk, then the case holder should convene a Strategy Meeting to plan further action. The case holder’s Senior Care Manager would ordinarily chair this. The Child Protection Unit should be informed of the intention to hold a strategy meeting and whether the circumstances make it for them to chair the meeting. If the mother was 13 years or younger at the time of conception, a Strategy Meeting must be convened.
4. The Strategy Meeting will in most cases determine the remit of a Core Assessment, which will need to be undertaken to address the risks in detail. Therefore, other professionals who might contribute to a Core Assessment should be invited to this meeting including the local Children’s Social Care Social agency if the expectant mother is placed ‘out of authority’.
   
   The relevant Children and Families Team – based on the family home address - must be represented at this meeting and begin tracking the case at this point.
5. The case holder and his/her manager will have lead responsibility for co-ordinating the Core Assessment. The relevant Children & Families Team manager should be kept informed of the progress of the Assessment. 
6. Where there is clear information at the Strategy Meeting that, on a balance of probabilities, care proceedings will be instituted or that the child will need to be Accommodated and placed separately at birth then the Children & Families Team should take lead responsibility for the Core Assessment on the basis that there will be a probable conflict of interests between the needs of the child and the needs of the mother.
7. The Core Assessment will determine whether the expected child will be viewed as a Child in Need in which case services will be mobilised as in (2) above, or a child who potentially meets the threshold for a Child Protection Plan or proceedings.
8. Where the outcome of the Core Assessment indicates that the situation can be managed via the provision of appropriate support services, that outcome should be presented to a reconvened Strategy Meeting.
9. Where the outcome of the Core Assessment indicates that there should be a Child Protection Plan is likely to be met, and which may also include the possibility of care proceedings on the baby, then the case holder will convene an Initial Child Protection Conference. See West Yorkshire Consortium Procedures, 3.7 Implementation of the Child Protection Plan - Lead Social Worker and Core Group Responsibilities.
   
   
   
   The relevant Children & Families Team will be represented at the conference and if the expected child is registered and / or there is a recommendation for care proceedings, then the Children & Families Team will take immediate responsibility for the provision of a Lead Social Worker and / or a worker to manage the legal process. It is possible that the Looked After Team case holder will be required to give evidence in the early stages of any legal action.

End