New Mother and Baby Unit

A brand-new specialist mental health unit to support new and expectant parents across Cheshire, Merseyside and North Wales has been announced as part of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week (1st – 7th May).

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP) in partnership with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCHUB), NHS England and NHS Wales are working together on a proposal to transform training centre, Churton House on the Countess of Chester Health Park into a specialist eight bedded unit to support perinatal mothers, babies and their families.

The proposed unit will work alongside the existing regional Community Perinatal Mental Health Services who care for over 2,000 women in the community every year.

Sarah Hull, CWP operational lead for Perinatal Mental Health Services, says:

The time around pregnancy and the early days of parenting is such a special time, but it can also make some women vulnerable to new or relapses of existing mental health problems.

If admission to hospital is required, previously local women have had to travel to other specialist units or face being separated from their baby, which can create further issues with bonding and attachment.

For women with family and partners this can also make maintaining contact with the new baby challenging and it is particularly difficult for any siblings who are separated from their mother at the same time as accepting the new baby into their lives.

It is estimated that one in four women experience mental health problems in pregnancy and during the 24 months after giving birth. The consequences of not accessing high-quality perinatal mental health care are estimated to cost the NHS and social care £1.2 billion per year.

The new unit will support new and expectant mothers in a therapeutic environment which has been purposefully designed for people experiencing maternal mental health difficulties, such as post-natal depression, psychosis or a relapse of an existing mental health condition.

Plans include a nursery, sensory room and multiple lounges to support quiet time and family visits. Having access to outside space is central to the plans with two garden areas and a walking pram loop, with families set to benefit from being based on the edge of the Countess Country Park.

The unit is set to open in 2024.

Sophie’s Story

Sophie currently works as a peer support worker for the Cheshire and Merseyside perinatal mental health team but prior to this she accessed the perinatal team’s support during pregnancy and after her baby was born.

Her route into the service mirrors many mothers who have found support and solace from the specialist service. Sophie was referred by her GP and was able to access a wide range of therapeutic support in her community. This included compassion-focussed therapy groups and baby massage.

However, Sophie admits that she held a fear of being told she needed an admission to a mother and baby unit. She says:

One of the biggest fears I had was that I would be deemed not well enough to cope and would have to be transferred to a mother and baby unit quite far away from where I live. I had all kinds of worries, such as would my husband be able to come and visit me to whether my baby would be taken away from me. On reflection, I didn’t really know enough about mother and baby units but they really are supportive, therapeutic places.

Sophie adds:

They offer interventions, they can really help with bonding, they never remove the baby from the mother and it’s a space where you can build the relationship with your child without the external stresses.

My biggest hope is that more mother and baby units are made available locally. I just hope that if a mum needs to go into a mother and baby unit, then at least she will have that local support network with her family and friends that she can still access.

Find out more about Sophie’s journey through perinatal services at: www.cwp.nhs.uk/sophie