Pause – Creating space for change
Five and a half years ago, in a small room at the Sunflower Women’s Centre, Pause Plymouth began its journey with a team of three practitioners, led by Shirley Sinclair, along with a coordinator. The demand for support has never been higher, with more children being taken into care year on year.
Recent statistics from the Department of Education paint a stark picture of the situation in England, with 33,000 children taken into care in 2023 alone, bringing the total number of children in care to 83,840. While much of the focus tends to be on the children, the impact on the mothers who lose their children is equally, if not more, devastating. The removal of a child can trigger of grief, trauma, substance use, depression, and an increased risk of suicide attempts. When a child is removed, many of these women feel that there are no services open to them, leaving them to navigate the aftermath and trauma on their own.
This is where Pause steps in, becoming a crucial support system for these women. Part of a broader national Pause programme, Pause Plymouth is dedicated to improving the lives of women who have had—or are at risk of having—multiple children removed from their care. The vision of Pause is clear: to create a society where women who experience the removal of children are given the best possible support, so it never happens again.
As Shirley explains, ‘We felt like the Pause model was something that sat really well with us. Women should be able to have control over their own bodies and should be helped to find contraception during a time that isn’t good for them to get pregnant. If they get pregnant at that time, that child will likely be removed, resulting in more grief and trauma.’
Pause delivers a 12-18-month programme of intensive, personalised support to women who have experienced the removal of children from their care. There are currently 19 Pause Practices operating across 24 local authorities, and the results are significant. On average, the presence of a Pause Practice in a community leads to a reduction of 14 infants entering local authority care each year.
What started as a small team in Plymouth has grown to a group of seven, who can work with up to 28 women at a time.
‘The one thing we ask of the women we work with is that they use contraception. This allows them to think about themselves, pause in a difficult and often chaotic time, and engage with a practitioner.’ Pause’s Plymouth team have a small case load and is part of a well-supported team who offer different, flexible ways of working with the women they support.
In a bid to be creative with the services that they offer, practitioners have met with women for woodland walks, accompanied by Peggy, their therapy dog. On other occasions, the women have been taken cold water swimming, go karting and on boat trips.
‘We might try lots of different ways and activities, or we may give our women space – but we will keep coming back and we will never close the door on them.’
Over the five and a half years since they began operating, Pause Plymouth have worked with over 100 women across four communities, and aware of a further 123 women they could potentially work with.
These 103 women have had 301 children removed from their care. ‘Some of the women we are working with have had 3 or 4 children removed by the time they’re in their late twenties,’ says Shirley. The statistics reveal even more grief: in addition to the 301 children removed, there have been 67 other pregnancies known to Pause, involving miscarriages or terminations.
Today, five and a half years later, Pause has become a lifeline for many women in the community, offering crucial assistance to those who have faced the profound trauma of losing a child. Ahead of their recommissioning due in March, Pause Plymouth are ready to keep going ‘We have the energy to carry on and we want to keep going. We’ve done work that we can be very proud of.’
