‘On paper, you’re normal’: narratives of unseen health needs among women who have had children removed from their care

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‘On paper, you’re normal’: narratives of unseen health needs among women who have had children removed from their care

Grant, Claire; Powell, Claire; Philip, Georgia; Blackburn, Ruth; Lacey, Rebecca; Woodman, Jenny; (2023) ‘On paper, you’re normal’: narratives of unseen health needs among women who have had children removed from their care. Journal of Public Health , Article fdad137. 10.1093/pubmed/fdad137. Green open access

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Abstract

Background: Mothers who have children removed from their care often have complex needs. These women have poor health outcomes and are dying earlier than their peers from preventable and amenable causes. Yet there is little known about how health care services might mitigate these risks. This study aimed to listen to the voices of women who had children removed from their care to understand their experiences of health and healthcare.// Methods: We used a narrative approach to collect and analyse interview data with six mothers who had experienced child removal in England. Each participant was asked to reflect on their life and main health challenges.// Results: Three narrative subplots were developed to consolidate experiences of unmet health need: (i) ‘on paper you’re normal’: narratives of complex need, (ii) ‘in my family, everyone had issues’: narratives of whole family need and (iii) ‘I’m still mummy, no matter where they are’: narratives of maternal identity and health.// Conclusions: Findings highlight limitations within current systems of support, including a culture of distrust and women falling between the gaps of services. Women’s narratives illustrate opportunities for health intervention, especially immediately following child removal.

Type:	Article
Title:	‘On paper, you’re normal’: narratives of unseen health needs among women who have had children removed from their care
Location:	England
Open access status:	An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI:	10.1093/pubmed/fdad137
Publisher version:	https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdad137
Language:	English
Additional information:	© The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords:	child protection, lifecourse health, narrative analysis, public health
UCL classification:	UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept
URI:	https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10174793