Findings from The Stepping Stones Study were translated into an interactive play by Outside Edge Theatre Company, and performed at King's earlier this month.
The Stepping Stones Study evaluated the models of care and pathways for women who are dependent on drugs and their infants from preconception through to 18 months after the birth of the baby. The study took the form of longitudinal interviews with women, as well as focus groups and individual interviews with staff who work with women who use drugs in pregnancy.
Interview transcripts with the 36 women who participated were then drawn on to develop a play with Outside Edge Theatre Company. Outside Edge is the UK's only theatre company and participatory arts charity focused on addiction . The team worked closely with Dr Polly Radcliffe, Principal Investigator for the Stepping Stones, and researchers, Dr Emma Smith and Ms Louise Honeybul who had conducted longitudinal interviews and built rapport with research participants in London and Scotland . The development of a play was an innovative way of sharing research findings with health and social care practitioners and trainee practitioners. Initial workshops began early in 2025, and over time this has developed into Mum Points.
We were keen to use drama to tell our research participants' stories. The idea of the Mum Points 'game' conveyed the fact that sometimes important outcomes like whether women are given the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to being mothers, can come down to the luck of having compassionate care and access to the right sort of treatment and resources. Using our research participants' stories gave access to voices and perspectives that are rarely heard, and we hope will provide new insights for practitioners and service providers.
Dr Polly Radcliffe, Principal Investigator of The Stepping Stones Study, King's IoPPN
Written and directed by Jude Christian, Mum Points takes its name from the idea that women using drugs or in treatment for drug use during pregnancy reported feeling as though every action or chance act around them impacted an arbitrary score which then may determine their future as a parent with, or without, their baby.
Performed by Lucy Havard, Eve Steele and Bianca Stephens, Mum Points explored the stories of three fictional mums whose narratives drew directly from the findings of The Stepping Stones Study, following them from early pregnancy through to birth. Each character was playing their own game of Mum Points, adding or subtracting from their score with each action and decision. The audience were drawn into this, playing the role of chance for much of the performance. By including an element of chance, no two performances of Mum Points could be the same, with so many tosses of a coin, possible interventions and more at play. This deftly represented the importance of recognising each individual experience and set of circumstances.
There was a phrase in the research finding that really stayed with me, about some interviewees' sense of "the provisional status of their motherhood". We talked a lot about the insecurity, uncertainty and precarity that almost everyone experiences when they're becoming a parent, and how much harder it would be to do it all under added scrutiny, with the ever-present worry of separation. Audiences come away from Mum Points with confidence that even if you can't solve massive problems, there are always little things you can do that genuinely make a huge difference to the people you're caring for.
Jude Christian, Writer & Director of Mum Points
The audience for Mum Points was primarily made up of those working with women who use drugs during pregnancy and the perinatal period; midwives, social workers and substance use treatment practitioners and student midwives etc. Following each of the two performances, Q&A sessions revealed the impact of the production on audiences, with many remarking on what a profoundly emotional impact the play had on them.
