All over the country women like myself who have suffered some form of mental health issues are having their children taken from them without being given a chance, by Social Services.

I suffered with post-natal depression shortly after birth and no matter how much help I begged for help, I was denied any form of support from the local mental health team.  

One night in September 2014, I expressed how much help I needed (which resulted in me being taken to a psychiatric unit 30 miles away) because I admitted how much I couldn't cope without any extra help. I wanted to throw myself off the multi-storey because I couldn't do it without support anymore. I had tried phoning the local Crisis Team before this situation arose. They were probably the most patronizing people I have ever spoken to in that situation. I said in a brief moment of madness (this would never have happened) but I said that I would kill everyone who got in my path to committing suicide that night whilst on the phone to my mother, not in a serious way, but in a way that... I was so close to breaking point, I needed to shock people into helping me and I said that I didn't care about my daughter or my family. Which was CLEARLY untrue, I was unwell, and suffering. My daughter was taken without any warning the next day as her father was unfit for the role at the time, due to Social Services thinking he was too nervous to be a parent on his own for the time being, when he wasn't. She was taken to live with her paternal family 80 miles away because he was put under so much pressure in such a short amount of time to decide where she went, he didn't know any of my local close family well enough, or have their contact details handy at the time. They didn't give him enough time to find out. 

Before being taken to this family, Social Services investigated my home, my family and everyone who had come into contact with my little girl. There were no issues. Yet there wasn't a single investigation into the new home she was to be taken to. Please note that I was only in the psychiatric unit for two weeks before leaving permanently and since then I have been as fit as a fiddle, the only problems since then have been me missing my daughter to the point of crying myself to sleep most nights. Surely that would be normal, it almost feels like I'm grieving. My daughter was apparently emotionally neglected from me, and having me in the same town was a risk. But how could she have been at risk of emotional neglect from the rest of my family who were more than willing to stay with me, look after her and help for the short time I would have needed it? She is currently a Looked After child. But no harm even came to her when she was in my care, all I ever wanted was support, and was pushed into a brief spell of madness because I received none whatsoever. We had a child protection plan but this was dropped in January. I also signed section 20 in December because Social Services told me and my ex partner that if we didn't sign, they would put in a care order and we could potentially lose our baby girl forever. 

I have not seen my daughter in 10 weeks now because her paternal family have a bad opinion on me - due to being in a psychiatric unit for depression. (Nothing has clearly been diagnosed though, I only suffered a brief spell of feeling low after my baby, then after a few weeks after I started some medication I was absolutely fine, but missing her dearly). Therefore they have been refusing me any time with my daughter, they have refused photos and phone calls and her developing information. I never even received a photo of her on her first Christmas. I barely even remember the colour of my little girls eyes, I do not know what her favourite foods or toys are and I have no idea what she has learnt. I want to spend time with my little girl, supervised by Social Services, as my daughters paternal family are incredibly hostile towards me. Social Services have ignored all of my requests to arrange contact sessions, they even expect my 79 year old grandmother who desperately needs a knee replacement to spend 8 hours travelling there and back to see her for such a short amount of time! Her great-grandma loves her to death and has helped us so much! All I want to do is spoil this little girl rotten and have her learn that my name is mummy.

Please sign this petition to get this little girl back into her loving mummy's arms! And to stop this from happening to loving mothers who struggle during the weeks after birth. Give them help, don't punish them by taking their babies! Give them a chance and SUPPORT THEM! Even if nothing comes out of this petition for myself, it has still helped boost my confidence, realize I am not alone and has helped spread the word. I am not saying Social Services treat every family unfairly, but they definitely do not help sometimes. Mental health problems seem a bit foreign to them. 

If you have any advice or would like to know more please email me on: summeroliviaflorence@yahoo.co.uk
Please no nasty emails! I only want my girl to be with her loving mummy.