Mother and baby mental health unit to go ahead

A permanent regional mother and baby unit, providing specialist inpatient mental health care, is to go ahead in the grounds of the Belfast City Hospital with a design team to be appointed immediately.

Mothers and families have been campaigning for decades for a dedicated unit where women are treated alongside their babies instead of being separated and cared for in a general psychiatric ward.

Women who develop postpartum psychosis often experience hallucinations, delusions, restlessness and if left untreated may harm themselves and their babies.

The health minister said it represents a "significant step forward" and the aim is for it to open "no later than 2028/29".

About £400,000 has been ringfenced from the Department of Health's building budget to get the project under way.

Speaking on the appointed site which is currently waste ground, Mike Nesbitt said interim and temporary facilities which had been discussed proved not to be cost effective.

The minister said a scoping exercise confirmed that alternative options including a dedicated hospital ward would not deliver a materially shorter timeline or better value for money, and would not offer the same level of safety and assurance for mothers and babies.

Being built alongside an existing acute mental health inpatient facility in the grounds of the Belfast City Hospital and proximity to obstetric-led maternity services at the Royal Jubilee Hospital, Nesbitt said was essential for safe, high-quality care.

"Severe perinatal mental illness can escalate rapidly, and immediate access to specialist support can be lifesaving," Nesbitt added in a statement.

"My decision reflects clear clinical advice from departmental officials, the Public Health Agency and Royal College of Psychiatrists' best-practice guidance."

Each year, about 100 women in Northern Ireland are admitted to adult psychiatric wards for care, without their babies.

Liz Morrison of the charity, Action on Postpartum Psychosis, said they were "over the moon" at the minister's statement that the aim is for the unit to open "no later than 2028/29".

"APP has been campaigning for a Northern Ireland MBU (mother and baby unit) since our inception in 2011, together with the mums and families affected by postpartum psychosis who we support.

"We've waited far too long."

• A rare but serious mental health illness that can affect any mother

• Symptoms can include hallucinations, delusions, manic and low moods, loss of inhibitions, restlessness, out-of-character behaviour and confusion

• If left untreated the condition can get rapidly worse and lead to mothers harming the baby, themselves or others

• The most severe symptoms usually last between two and 12 weeks but recovery can take several months

SOURCE:NHS

Seven health ministers have supported the idea of a mother and baby unit in Northern Ireland, but funding has never been found.

While the rest of the UK has 22 units, NI has none forcing mothers with severe postpartum mental health issues to be separated from their babies and treated in units such as Holywell Psychiatric hospital alongside other patients with a range of mental health issues.

Last June, a BBC Spotlight investigation heard hard hitting testimonies from women who had suffered severe post-partum psychosis and post-natal depression and who'd been cared for without their babies with them.

Last November during a Stormont debate, Nesbitt said a mother and baby unit was not just overdue or long overdue but long, long overdue however he could not at that stage guarantee funding.