My patient was a drug misuser, did that make her a bad mum? No, it didn’t

I didn’t meet Tamika^[*] until perilously late in her pregnancy. It was certainly not due to a lack of effort on my part.

She was the arch “failure to attend” subject.

At our hospital, pregnant women have a schedule of appointments which are loosely adhered to, given transport difficulties and socio-economic disadvantage.

But Tamika elevated non-compliance to an art form.

She had initially completed her 'booking-in visit' with the midwives, and I recall catching a glimpse of