Exploring structural inequalities and the lived experiences of birthmothers in the context of child removal

Abstract

Section A
Background: Child removal is an increasingly significant issue in the United Kingdom, and is often linked to recurrence and intergenerational trauma. Mothers may experience removal as a deeply social and psychological event shaped by poverty, stigma, and gendered moral judgement. There is a need for research that integrates these intersecting factors to better understand birthmothers’ experiences after child removal.
Aim: This qualitative synthesis asked: How do stigma, socioeconomic disadvantage, and psychological distress shape birthmothers’ experiences after child removal?
Methods: A thematic synthesis was conducted on 15 studies identified from a systematic search across five databases (PsycINFO, Scopus, ASSIA, Medline, and Maternity and Infant Care).
Findings: Four analytical themes were identified: Structural Violence and the Moral Governance of Motherhood, highlighting how material hardship was often reframed as individual failure; The Fragmentation and Surveillance of Maternal Identity, describing the internalisation of stigma and the effects of constant scrutiny; Grief, Psychological Distress, and the Work of Survival, conceptualising removal as an ambiguous and disenfranchised loss; and Reclaiming Moral Worth and Relational Repair, exploring how some mothers rebuilt their identity through relational validation and self-reclamation.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that child removal may contribute to cumulative and enduring harm, while systemic rigidity can perpetuate disadvantage. The review highlights the need for structural and relational reforms that distinguish material hardship from neglect and provide sustained, trauma-informed support for birth parents.

Section B
Background: In the UK, child removal processes disproportionately affect marginalised mothers living in poverty, experiencing domestic abuse, and enduring intergenerational trauma. Structural disadvantage is often reframed as individual parental risk, creating a “perinatal paradox” in which heightened vulnerability is met with increased surveillance. Limited research has examined how pregnancy and childbirth are experienced in this context.
Aims: This study examined how birthmothers make sense of pregnancy and childbirth in the context of child removal.
Methods: Using a critical realist epistemology, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was applied to semi-structured interviews with nine women recruited through a UK organisation supporting those at risk of repeated child removal.
Findings: Four Group Experiential Themes were identified: pregnancy as a temporary embodied sanctuary in the shadow of loss; experiences of surveillance and a maternal “no-win” position; birth as dispossession and constrained agency; and motherhood as an enduring identity shaped by disenfranchised grief and resistance.
Conclusions: Pregnancy may be experienced as a countdown to loss, with birth as an institutional rupture. The findings highlight the need for trauma-informed, relational care that recognises birthmothers’ ongoing needs.

Date of Award	2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Canterbury Christ Church University