Taking mothering seriously: the implications for child protection

This paper explores feminist writings on mothering, highlighting recent writings which argue that it is important for children’s well‐being that mothers are subjects in their own right and that mothers should not just be looked at in terms of how they impact upon children. It argues that exploring how children impact upon mothers allows a fuller understanding of mothers’ stories today and could be helpful for social work practices where particular children are in danger. It calls for fuller debates within social work generally about the complexities of mothering and offers evidence that such debates are being urgently requested by workers and service users alike.