Working with Vulnerable Pregnant Women Who Are At Risk of Having their Babies Removed by the Child Protection Agency in New South Wales, Australia

Everitt, L; Homer, C; Fenwick, J

Working with Vulnerable Pregnant Women Who Are At Risk of Having their Babies Removed by the Child Protection Agency in New South Wales, Australia

Everitt, L Homer, C

Fenwick, J

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Child Abuse Review, 2017, 26 (5), pp. 351 - 363
Issue Date:: 2017-09-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Everitt, L	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Homer, C https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7454-3011	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Fenwick, J	en_US
dc.date.available	2020-05-25T19:08:55Z
dc.date.issued	2017-09-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Child Abuse Review, 2017, 26 (5), pp. 351 - 363	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0952-9136	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/126946
dc.description.abstract	Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. In this paper, midwives' experiences of working with vulnerable pregnant women who were subject to child protection orders in New South Wales, Australia, and faced the possible removal of their baby at birth, known as ‘assumption of care’, are described. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to explore the experiences of ten midwives who had been involved in some 91 episodes of assumption of care. In-depth interviews were undertaken and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data-set. Four themes were elicited that demonstrated how midwives worked with vulnerable women and Community Services during the antenatal period. These were labelled: Reporting – Taking the first step; The woman-midwife relationship remains a priority; Jumping through the ‘community service’ hoops; and Crunch time: The decision… sometimes justifiable sometimes not? Even though the three-way relationship between the woman-midwife-Community Services could be confrontational, it was essential that midwives worked in a positive way with Community Services to improve outcomes for the woman and her unborn child. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ‘Experiences of ten midwives who had been involved in some 91 episodes of assumption of care’. Key Practitioner Messages: Working effectively with Community Services is essential. Sharing information and developing multidisciplinary approaches and pathways will produce the best outcomes for vulnerable newborns and their mothers whilst at the same time supporting health and community workers to work in a cohesive manner to provide quality care. Midwives need to be supported to stay ‘woman centred’. Keeping the woman engaged in the system will help ensure the health of the foetus (baby). Further research is needed to explore the perspectives of all those involved in assumption of care. ‘Midwives need to be supported to stay ‘woman centred’’.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Child Abuse Review	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1002/car.2432	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Social Work	en_US
dc.title	Working with Vulnerable Pregnant Women Who Are At Risk of Having their Babies Removed by the Child Protection Agency in New South Wales, Australia	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	5	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	26	en_US
utslib.for	1607 Social Work	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - WHO CC
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	5	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	26	en_US

Abstract:

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. In this paper, midwives' experiences of working with vulnerable pregnant women who were subject to child protection orders in New South Wales, Australia, and faced the possible removal of their baby at birth, known as ‘assumption of care’, are described. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to explore the experiences of ten midwives who had been involved in some 91 episodes of assumption of care. In-depth interviews were undertaken and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data-set. Four themes were elicited that demonstrated how midwives worked with vulnerable women and Community Services during the antenatal period. These were labelled: Reporting – Taking the first step; The woman-midwife relationship remains a priority; Jumping through the ‘community service’ hoops; and Crunch time: The decision… sometimes justifiable sometimes not? Even though the three-way relationship between the woman-midwife-Community Services could be confrontational, it was essential that midwives worked in a positive way with Community Services to improve outcomes for the woman and her unborn child. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ‘Experiences of ten midwives who had been involved in some 91 episodes of assumption of care’. Key Practitioner Messages: Working effectively with Community Services is essential. Sharing information and developing multidisciplinary approaches and pathways will produce the best outcomes for vulnerable newborns and their mothers whilst at the same time supporting health and community workers to work in a cohesive manner to provide quality care. Midwives need to be supported to stay ‘woman centred’. Keeping the woman engaged in the system will help ensure the health of the foetus (baby). Further research is needed to explore the perspectives of all those involved in assumption of care. ‘Midwives need to be supported to stay ‘woman centred’’.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/126946