‘Don’t Take My Baby’: social work factual drama airs on BBC Three

A factual drama about a disabled couple’s fight to keep their newborn baby aired on BBC Three last night.

Don’t Take My Baby is based on real-life testimony and follows the journey of 21-year-old mother and wheelchair user, Anna, and father Tom, who is partially sighted, as they try to provide the care and attention their daughter needs.

Their social worker, Belinda, must assess whether they can provide this care or alternative arrangements are needed.

“This emotional tale will call viewers’ prejudices and beliefs about the disabled community and society as a whole into question, as we learn about a situation many disabled couples find themselves in as new parents,” the BBC website said.

Defying the Label

The show is part of BBC Three’s ‘Defying the Label’ season, which aims to “speak honestly to our open-minded BBC Three viewers”, according to BBC Three controller Damian Kavanagh.

“With the channel’s strong reputation for delivering hard-hitting, critically acclaimed seasons including Crime and Punishment and Mental Health season, ‘Defying the Label’ will challenge the views of our savvy audiences whilst questioning perspectives and attitudes towards young disabled people in the UK today,” Kavanagh said.

Don’t Take My Baby aired last night on BBC Three and is now available on the BBC iPlayer.

Reactions throughout the drama were positive with viewers commenting on the fair portrayal of how hard social work is, and how well portrayed the unique difficulties for a social worker and family in this situation were.

Although concerns were raised on the Community Care Facebook page that the show misrepresented that social workers can make the decision to take children away. Here are some views: