New mothers with severe mental illness will soon be able to access care alongside their babies, with the site of NSW\u2019s first public purpose-built Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) announced today at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
\nPremier Gladys Berejiklian said the specialised Mother and Baby Unit is a crucial development in the delivery of mental healthcare in NSW.
\n\u201cThis unit will be accessible to new mums and mums-to-be across the state who require care in a hospital for a perinatal (immediately before and after birth) mental illness,\u201d Ms Berejiklian said.
\n\u201cWe want these women to receive the specialist mental health care they need, as well as the opportunity to form a bond with their babies in those all-important formative months.\u201d
\nMinister for Mental Health Bronnie Taylor said the unit will support up to 120 women with acute or ongoing severe mental illness from across the state each year.
\n\u201cPerinatal mental illness can impact a parent\u2019s relationship with their baby, family dynamics and the ongoing development of a child,\u201d Mrs Taylor said.
\n\u201cWe want to ensure that women receive the best possible treatment, with their partners and family\u2019s involvement, so children and families can thrive.\u201d
\nEach of the eight bedrooms at the MBU will be able to accommodate a mother, up to two infants under 12-months of age and a partner or family member.
\nThe MBU will also include space and equipment for antenatal care, a 24-hour respite nursery, a mothercraft room, a play area, a retreat room and communal areas to accommodate multiple families with children.
\nThe MBU at RPA is expected to open by the end of 2021. A second MBU at Westmead Hospital is also in the initial planning stage.
\nMother and Baby Units are part of the NSW Government\u2019s $700 million statewide Mental Health Infrastructure Program \u2013 the single biggest investment in mental health infrastructure to date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New mothers with severe mental illness will soon be able to access care alongside their babies, with the site of NSW\u2019s first public purpose-built Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) announced today at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the specialised Mother and Baby Unit is a crucial development in the delivery of mental … Continue reading “MOTHERS AND BABIES CARED FOR TOGETHER IN NEW SPECIALISED MENTAL HEALTH UNIT”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}