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Specialised Mother & Baby Mental Health

Our vision

We said we would improve specialised mother and baby mental health services for all women in the East Midlands. We will ensure that all women have timely access to the appropriate level of specialised care provided by a skilled and knowledgeable workforce sensitive to the particular needs of women and their babies. 

Having a baby can lead to an increased risk of mental illness for women. Two per thousand women who have a baby will suffer from a very serious mental illness. Women who have had a previous serious mental illness are at high risk of this recurring following childbirth.  Four per thousand women who have a baby will need to be admitted to a specialist unit. There is also an increased risk of severe depressive illness which affects between three and five per cent of all new mothers. Less severe conditions of anxiety and depression occur in at least ten percent of all pregnant women and new mothers.

Many of the women who suffer from serious postnatal illness have risk factors which should be identified when they first attend antenatal clinic in early pregnancy and preventative plans should be put in place. Early identification and timely treatment can promote a speedy recovery. However, if untreated illnesses can have long-lasting effects on both mother and child. Mental illness accounts for at least 15% of all maternal deaths but it has been estimated that at least half of these could be avoided.

 

Why we're changing how we manage mother and baby mental health services

Currently we have three specialised mother and baby in-patient units in Nottingham, Derby and Leicester providing 13 beds for women and their babies. In Nottingham, the in-patient mother and baby unit is closely linked with a specialised community mental health team while in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire there are partially developed community teams. The majority of women with less serious illnesses are managed in the community by their GPs. 

There are several national guidelines for antenatal and postnatal mental health which recommend that specialised mother and baby services should be provided for women with serious mental illness in pregnancy and following giving birth. However, we know that in the East Midlands many women are not being referred to specialised mother and baby units. Instead they are being admitted to general psychiatric wards and are separated from their babies. There are large areas of the East Midlands that have no specialised community mental health teams. Women in late pregnancy and in the early weeks after giving birth have special needs and the care of them and their babies requires specialist skills and resources to ensure the best outcome for both mother and baby. Adult mental health services may find it difficult to prioritise the needs of women and their babies and deliver the care they need.

 

What we're doing

We want to create an East Midlands-wide specialised mother and baby mental health service. This will take the form of a small number of ‘hubs’ - specialised mother and baby in-patient units with ideally at least six beds - which will provide specialised care for all women in the East Midlands who need to be admitted with their babies (unless there are very specific reasons for not doing so). These hubs will work very closely with ‘spokes’ - specialised community mental health teams provided by each mental health trust. These in turn will work very closely with maternity services and GPs to ensure seamless care. We will also establish a clinical network which will ensure care is provided according to jointly agreed and proven standards.

 

Benefits for mothers and their babies

  • There will be fewer maternal deaths due to suicide and other mental health conditions.

  • More mothers will be treated in specialised units and, therefore, will be able to keep their babies with them.

  • With early identification and prompt treatment, women’s illnesses will be shortened and the adverse impact on their baby will be reduced.

  • Fewer women will suffer from a recurrence of serious mental illness following childbirth and the quality of life for them, their babies and families will be improved.

  • Women will stay in hospital for shorter lengths of time and the numbers of readmissions will be reduced. 

  • Fewer women will be compulsorily detained using the Mental Health Act.

  • More women will be treated in the community and overall the numbers needing to be admitted to hospital will be reduced.

  • Women will enjoy a better relationship with their babies and their babies’ mental health and development will be improved.

mother and baby mental health