Blog: Christianah

Christianah Jayeola has been a social worker for more than ten years and has a wealth of experience serving Hounslow’s fostering community.

There have been many moments across the decade that have resonated but it’s the immediate effect foster care can have on new-born children that has struck a particular chord…

There was one baby boy who, when he was born, was very ill and remained in hospital.

His mother was very fragile when she was pregnant and so post birth, he suffered a lot. He had a lot of aches and pains, cried a lot and was on medication.

He remained in hospital for about two weeks, by which time the team had secured him a foster placement. What stood out for me was that the immediate care, attention, and support he received meant that when he was about two months old, they were able to take him off the medication he was on. The hospital midwife mentioned that a lot of children in similar situations are not discharged and make significant improvement as quickly as that.

Staff at the hospital are understandably busy with so many children, different nurses, midwives, doctors with overlapping shifts. But good fostering is about meeting the health and overall needs of these children, whatever their age. Providing safe, nurturing, and consistent care, for them as they would for their own children.

They were able to hold the baby, and babies recognise their caregiver facially, and through their voice. This had a significant impact on him, and he later achieved all his developmental needs because of the affection, touch and support he received. It made a huge difference and it was wonderful to see him move to live with his adoptive family.

It can be a very emotional job, but what’s important, what we focus on is achieving a positive outcome for every child.

It's what keeps me going - positives outcomes for children.