Comparison of public mother–baby psychiatric units in Australia: similarities, strengths and recommendations

Abstract

Background: Mother–baby units are innovative and important models of care that allow inpatient treatment of postpartum maternal mental disorders whilst preserving and promoting the attachment relationship with their young infants. Objectives: To report data across five public mother–baby units in Australia in order to explore similarities and distinguishing features of each model. Method: Each unit also provided 12 months of data on key characteristics of their unit. Results: Despite the geographic differences, the diagnostic profiling, length of stay, and child protection involvement were similar across the units. Conclusions: Acute care for perinatal mental illness offered in public mother–baby units in Australia shows consistency across units, raising concerns for where such treatment is unavailable.

Perinatal outcomes of Aboriginal women with mental health disorders

“…Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 57 (10) Furthermore, what is evident is structural barriers to access to mental health care over the perinatal period that urgently need to be addressed (Bhat et al, 2020;Denison et al, 2014). This includes specific perinatal mental health services such as Mother Baby Units (Galbally et al, 2019). The impact of maternal mental health on preterm birth and low birthweight is of interest as these are critical public health issues in the Aboriginal population (AIHW, 2021) and are well-known indicators of health and development outcomes across the life course (Wolke et al, 2019).…”

“A service we know was missing”: bridging the gap between referral to admission for women with moderate-severe perinatal mental health disorders at an Australian psychiatric mother-baby unit

“…While a small sample, the demographic and service outcome data in this project compares consistently with previously reported data for this setting and other Australian psychiatric MBUs. [6][7][8][9] The observable trend towards increased capacity for urgent admissions over the project period is a key outcome given women with PMHDs preference for MBU admission over general psychiatric wards. 10 A higher proportion of those not admitted experienced perinatal depression and/or anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and postpartum situational crises, suggesting a clear role for this model of care.…”

“…While a small sample, the demographic and service outcome data in this project compares consistently with previously reported data for this setting and other Australian psychiatric MBUs. 6–9 The observable trend towards increased capacity for urgent admissions over the project period is a key outcome given women with PMHDs preference for MBU admission over general psychiatric wards. 10…”

Uncovering the Model and Philosophy of Care of a Psychiatric Inpatient Mother-Baby Unit in a Qualitative Study with Staff

“…MBUs are considered the optimal model for treating maternal mental health, as co-admission allows for the woman to receive treatment for her mental health, whilst also receiving support in developing parenting skills [ 10 , 13 , 17 , 22 ]. Despite the myriad of available literature regarding MBU services, there is currently a lack of a standardized, holistic models of care for use within MBU services, which limits the amount of comparable data that can be collected across MBUs [ 23 ]. A further gap in the literature is clarification around the staff’s roles, responsibilities, and experiences within an MBU.…”