A woman who has dedicated more than 40 years of her life to caring for children is now helping mothers and their babies.
Sheila Ryan began fostering in 1978 with the help of her husband, her family and her friends. For the last six years, the 75-year-old, who lives in Newcastle, has now specialised in mother and baby foster placements.
Mother and baby placements are a specialist type of fostering where typically, a young or inexperienced parent, usually a mother and baby, comes to stay with a foster parent for a few months. They allows the mother to receive some extra help and advice until they can safely care for their baby on their own.
