This podcast series aims to raise awareness about the experiences and needs of women who have had children removed from their care. It was created by a group of women who have completed the Pause Programme, who all have experience of having children removed from their care. In this episode, we’ll be focusing on the experiences of women who had children placed in kinship care, which is when a child lives with a relative or close family friend who isn't their parent. Our hosts, Helena and...

In this special episode of In a Mother’s Mind, we sit down with two women who share lived experience of the challenges portrayed in the new film Lollipop, a raw and emotional story directed by Daisy-May Hudson. Lollipop follows Molly, a young mother recently released from prison, as she tries to reunite with her children. But instead of finding support, she’s blocked by a system that demands she secure stable housing before regaining custody, even though she can’t get housing without he...

**trigger warning** although there is no description of physical acts of violence, this podcast episode discusses experiences and the impact of domestic abuse. Please take care when listening. Welcome to our third season of ‘In a Mother’s Mind’! This podcast series aims to raise awareness about the experiences and needs of women who have had children removed from their care. It was created by a group of women who have completed the Pause Programme, who all have experience of havi...

Welcome to a very special bonus episode of In a Mother’s Mind! This episode is hosted by Vanessa, a birth mother who has completed the Pause Programme and continues to get involved in Pause’s campaign work. Two years ago, Vanessa decided to write a letter to the social worker who removed her children from her care. In this episode, she talks to Jules Hillier, Chief Executive of Pause, about what made her decide to do this and the impact of her decision. We are pleased to share thi...

Episode 3 Welcome back to the final episode of this season of ‘In a Mother’s Mind’! This podcast series aims to raise awareness about the experiences and needs of women who have had children removed from their care. It was created by a group of four Pause graduates, who have experience of having children removed from their care. In this episode, Vanessa speaks to Sarah Moat, her former Pause Practitioner, about how Pause works in partnership with local authority housing provi...

Welcome to episode two of this season of ‘In a Mother’s Mind’! This podcast series aims to raise awareness about the experiences and needs of women who have had children removed from their care. It was created by a group of four Pause graduates, who have experience of having children removed from their care. We know from government figures that domestic abuse is one of the leading causes of homelessness amongst women, and housing is the primary barrier for women attempting to leave abuse...

Welcome back to another season of ‘In a Mother’s Mind’! This podcast series aims to raise awareness about the experiences and needs of women who have had children removed from their care. It was created by a group of four women who have experience of having children removed from their care and who have completed the Pause Programme.In this season, we will be discussing some of the complexities women face around housing, when going through – or after going through – care proceedings. We are ki...

Welcome back to this very special season of Pause and Listen! This is the final episode in our season ‘In a Mother’s Mind’, which aims to raise awareness about the mental health experiences and needs of women who have had children removed from their care. It was created by a group of five Pause graduates who have experience of having children removed from their care. In this episode, we share some messages of support for other women who have had children removed from their care. We will ...

In a Mother’s Mind: the mental health needs and experiences of women who have had children removed from their care Welcome back to this very special season of Pause and Listen! This season is called ‘In a Mother’s Mind’. It aims to raise awareness about the mental health experiences and needs of women who have had children removed from their care. It was created by a group of five Pause graduates who have experience of having children removed from their care. In this episode, we di...

In a Mother’s Mind: the mental health needs and experiences of women who have had children removed from their care We are delighted to share this very special season of Pause and Listen with you! This season is called ‘In a Mother’s Mind’. It aims to raise awareness about the mental health experiences and needs of women who have had children removed from their care. It was created by a group of five Pause graduates who have experience of having children removed from their care. In ...

For this special episode of Pause and Listen, we are passing the mic to women working with Pause in the North East. The women have been attending weekly music therapy sessions with Afra, a Nordoff Robins music therapist. Nordoff Robins is the UK’s largest music therapy charity. The sessions started as a music appreciation group and a space for the women to share their favourite music and how it connected them to important moments in their lives. This episode focuses on Vanessa’s journey into ...

In this episode, we discuss expert witness assessments during care proceedings. Although these assessments fulfil the function of informing proceedings, they are carried out by independent experts that are usually not part of the mental health service landscape in the local area. This creates a separate issue in that they offer no referral to mental health services for women, which could lead to positive change. We are joined by Clinical Psychologist Sheena Webb and Kelly Andrews, who is...

In this episode, we are joined by Ellen Marks, social worker, play therapist and also Pause’s Director of Practice and Learning, to discuss the Care Review’s final report and findings that were published in May. Pause has worked with the Care Review team over the past year to ensure the experiences of birth parents are represented in their final report. We wanted to see a recognition of the needs of birth parents and a clear recommendation for them to receive support. We also wanted to s...

Welcome back to Pause and Listen! We are so delighted to share our fourth series with you all. In this exciting episode, we take our #TimeToDeliver campaign on letterbox contact to Downing Street. Join us as we walk down Whitehall to Downing Street, to hand in our open letter to the Prime Minister. The letter is calling for changes to the current letterbox contact system, which is failing adopted children, birth parents and adoptive families. The system is outdated, complicated and does not a...

For this episode of Pause and Listen, we are joined by Harpreet Kaur, Practice Lead for Pause Southwark, and Liz, a woman who worked with Pause Hackney. Liz is now a Peer Mentor and has also set up her own support network called Little Steps. In this episode, we are discussing letterbox contact, an indirect form of contact where adoptive and birth families exchange letters, often once a year. Relationships with children is a top priority for women working with Pause. In particular, they ...

For this episode of Pause and Listen, we are joined by Laura and Peggy, a.k.a. Two Good Mums @TwoGoodMums. Laura and Peggy’s relationship is an exceptional story: they are the birth mother and adoptive mother of two sons CJ and RJ. Since first meeting, Laura and Peggy have worked together to build a relationship that led to regular face-to-face contact, as they felt that the usual post-adoption contact arrangements did not serve them or the boys. It’s a positive story of post-adoption contact...

This episode of Pause and Listen is all about the Care Review: the independent review of children’s social care in England. We are joined by Josh MacAlister @JoshMacAlister, who is leading the review. Josh is a former schoolteacher and founder of the charity Frontline. Earlier this year, Pause submitted our recommendations to the Care Review, with a focus on how we can better support the women whose children have been removed. Our key recommendations focus on: 1. Consist...

Welcome back to Pause and Listen! We are so delighted to share our third series with you all. In this episode, we will be exploring trauma-informed practice: what it means in reality and what it feels like as a woman working with Pause. We are joined by Dr Naomi Sutton @DrNaomiSutton, a sexual health professional working in Rotherham, and Christina Worle @ChristinaWorle a dentist in Plymouth @PenDentalSE. Both Naomi and Christina have worked with Pause and take a trauma-informed approach to t...

In this episode, we are looking back at what has been a challenging year for Pause, the women we support, and the sector at large.We are joined by two Pause Graduates, Emma and Heidi reflecting on a year in lockdown, Katherine Sacks Jones @KatharineSJ CEO ofBecome @Become1992, Minesh Patel @minesh1112, Principal Policy Manager at Citizens Advice @CitizensAdvice and Sarah Dangar @SarahDangar Deputy CEO of Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse @AAFDA6. Hosted by Clare Laxton. Fo...

In this episode, as part of our work during the 16 Days of Activism against gender based violence, we talk about something a bit different, and difficult. We talk about the premature deaths of women who’ve had more than one child removed from their care. The episode explores how Pause scoping exercises started finding women who had had more than one child removed who had died before we were able to offer them support. Most of these women died prematurely. We ask why they died and what c...