The guidance should assist professionals to work in partnerships with parents to develop multi-agency plans in a timely way that will protect their unborn child from harm whilst supporting their development.
It has been developed by health and social work services in consultation with other professionals who work with children and their families and is informed from the findings of self-evaluation work, overseen by the Pre-Birth Steering Group. The guidance is underpinned by the GIRFEC principles and aligned with the National Child Protection Guidance and local multi-agency child protection procedures.
Aims and goals of the guidance
The overall aim of this protocol is to support staff across the partnership to:
- identify and offer vulnerable parents and their unborn babies the right help and support, at the right time, by minimising the impact of risk factors during pregnancy and supporting their baby’s development before and after birth
- support parents to give nurturing care to their babies which will promote strong attachments to enable their babies to grow healthily and safely within their families and network of support
- involve parents and families in the assessment and planning for unborn babies using a relationship and strengths-based approach
- to clarify what is meant by pre-birth social work assessments and set out the processes to be followed in order to undertake these from an inclusive and rights-based approach