Drunk in charge
Question
My sister is a single parent with a four-week-old baby. She was a heavy drinker before getting pregnant and recently she has started drinking heavily again. Sometimes she's so drunk she can hardly stand up, and she gets very abusive towards me and my parents. We're worried about the baby and we've thought about contacting social services but we're afraid they might take the baby into care. What should I do?
Answer
This must be a very difficult situation for you but the first priority must be the welfare of the child.
If you want to contact social services (sometimes called social care) their number will be listed in your telephone directory under the town or city in which you live. It might also be listed on their website. There are usually emergency numbers you can use out of office hours. Once Social Services officers have been contacted, they are obliged to conduct an investigation. This means a social worker will visit and assess the situation.
For information and advice beofre contacting social services you could call NSPCC's free and confidential 24 hour helpline service on 0808 800 5000.
For help and advice about dealing with alcohol, you or your sister can contact Frank on 0800 77 66 00 (freephone) or Drinkline on 0800 917 82 82 (freephone).
It's important to remember that you can't make someone stop drinking. Your sister has to recognise the problem first, and only then can she decide to face up to it.
If you're worried then share your concern with her, and perhaps encourage her to open up about any underlying problems. Make her aware of the problems their drinking is causing to others, and listen to why she feel the need to reach for the bottle. Just choose your moment wisely, preferably when she's sober.
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Question answered by Addaction
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