(08-10-2010 05:51 PM)mummy to 3 Wrote:  we dont get any respite or direct payments ? we even have a soical worker

Firstly a massive congraulations.
Will this be the first podc pregnancy?
Looking at your post i was a little confused about the social worker.
So you do have a social worker?

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CONGRATULATIONS

firstly, try not to worry!! (easier said than done i kno...) but like you said...you'll love your child either way so relax about it and enjoy your pregnancy. secondly, i would start the process of getting yourself a social worker and like corinne said, sort out some respite and provisions for emergency respite should you go ointo labour....(which you will at some point obviously ) we were told to look into acorns when i got pregnant but we were lucky that dans mom and my mom covered it in the end, however, should we ever have another one i would probably go down a more formal route!

xx

(08-10-2010 07:06 PM)Lucy Wrote:  however, should we ever have another one i would probably go down a more formal route!

xx

SHOULD WE?
I thought it was granted

sorry daniel i ment to say we dont have a social worker we find them too over bearing and interfer too much this is why we opted agaisnt it

a lot of the time now social workers dont have the time to interfere with families that dont phone and phone and phone hehe, they will come out and give you an assessment and unless you ask for help they rarely contact you. by getting an assessment you can look into direct payments which will mean you will be able to pay somebody even a family member as long as they dont live with you to look after your Children while you have a break, also crossroads are good and you can use them with the direct payments or pay for them yourself.
dont know how it works where you are but we have 2 types of respite apart from the direct payments or family link, one is social services run and one is run by the health department. the nhs one is accessed through the community nurse (going back some years so this might have changed) if the child had physical disabilities or medical ones or severe behavioural as well where the social services will have children with physical but not usually medical apart from peg feeds and dont have children with behavioural probs (which is why matt was taken out of ss respite )

i think if you have never had respite and dont want it then direct payments would be the way to go for you as it lets you keep control over who you have looking after your children but you can get help from disability solutions who have a list of crb checked carers and will interview them for you and you give a final interview when they have narrowed it down (again thats how it works here)