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We report the case of a 26-year-old female who intentionally ingested busulfan, an oral chemotherapy agent, to induce severe aplastic anemia. The patient was initially thought to be suffering from idiopathic aplastic anemia, before clues suggesting the diagnosis of a factitious disorder were identified. The patient underwent a bone marrow transplant and ultimately died 5 weeks later following a lengthy admission to the intensive care unit. It is unclear whether confrontation about a patient’s self-induction of physical illness is beneficial in the treatment of patients with factitious disorder. Cases such as this pose substantial diagnostic challenges, making early recognition of factitious disorder and initiation of treatment difficult. The patient described in this case report had risk factors for a factitious disorder, including age, gender, professional involvement in health care, recent loss and developmental trauma. Factitious disorder, while rare, can have lethal consequences for the patient. This diagnosis must be considered as part of a full diagnostic assessment.

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Pregnant women referred to a CLP service present with a range of mental health problems, most often depression, anxiety and substance use disorders. Many of these problems are evident in and require intervention during the antenatal period as well as at the time of confinement. CLP services to maternity hospitals should be provided in the antenatal as well as the inpatient setting.

Objectives: This study examined (i) the demographic and illness profiles of mothers admitted to Werribee Mercy MBU in Victoria, Australia and (ii) the severity of maternal depressive symptoms over the course of admission. Method: A retrospective audit was conducted on consecutively admitted mother–baby dyads between January 2011 and June 2015. Routinely collected maternal Beck Depression Inventory, second edition (BDI-II) scores were analysed for severity and change. Results: A total of 307 mother–baby dyads were admitted during the study period. The majority of mothers was partnered and educated young adults. The average length of stay was 4.4 weeks. The mean age of babies was 3.3 months. One-third of mothers met International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition criteria for two or more psychiatric diagnoses. Unipolar major depression was the commonest diagnosis. Of the 307 mothers, 125 mothers completed BDI-II on admission and on discharge, which showed a mean reduction of 16 points ( p < 0.001) on discharge. Conclusions: This study notes the similarities between the clinical profiles of the study population with mother–baby admissions to MBUs worldwide. Maternal depressive symptoms improved by 16 points on the BDI-II over the course of MBU admission, which shows the utility of MBU admission on maternal depressive symptoms.