‘Urgent need for mental health unit for new mums’
AMs told centre would end the existing ‘postocde lottery’
NORTH Wales could get a specialist unit to help the mental health of pregnant women and new mothers.
The proposals follow a warning of a lack of specialist in-patient care in Wales for women with the most severe symptoms.
Sally Wilson from Bangor, who has experience of using mental health services in Gwynedd and who contributed evidence to a recent Assembly inquiry, said: “It’s very much a postcode lottery of where you are. North and west Wales don’t tend to do very well in terms of the services provided compared maybe to south Wales and Cardiff.”
The Children, Young People and Education Committee heard that while at least 50 to 80 women a year in Wales require admission for in-patient care in a specialist Mother and Baby Unit, Wales’s only unit was closed in 2013.
Since then, patients have travelled as far as Derby, London and Nottingham, or received treatment in an adult psychiatric unit, where they’ve had to be separated from their child. Committee Chair Lynne Neagle said: “We have heard from women, their families and from health professionals who have told us that mental health support for women giving birth in Wales needs to improve. It is estimated that perinatal mental ill health affects up to one in five women at some stage during their pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth with conditions ranging across a spectrum of severity.
“For the majority of women, care in a community setting will be most appropriate. However there is still more to do to ensure that women who need specialist support in the community get the right care and we are committed to monitoring closely Welsh Government progress to ensure that services are as good as they can be.”
She added: “For the minority of women with the most severe mental illness during pregnancy and after giving birth, access to a Mother and Baby Unit is key.
“We are pleased that our work to shine a light on this subject has already borne fruit, with the Welsh Government committing to develop specialist inpatient mental health support for new mothers within Wales.
“However, we believe that identifying a location for in-patient services that is suitable for women across Wales remains a challenge. While the birth rate in south Wales would sustain a specialist unit, this would not solve issues in North Wales. As such, we recommend the Welsh Government should work with NHS England as a matter of urgency to discuss the creation of a centre in north east Wales that could serve both sides of the border.”
The report was welcomed by other parties in the Assembly,
Angela Burns AM, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Secretary, said: “We welcome the committee’s report which shines a much needed light on the critical need for the Welsh Government to improve the way it supports the mental health of new and expectant mothers.”
North Wales AM Llyr Gruffydd said the creation of such a unit was a step forward in improving care.
He said: “The report suggests that a unit needs to be developed in north-east Wales that could serve both sides of the border.
“This would go a long way to redress the imbalance in specialist care, where patients from north Wales all too often have to travel to access services in the northwest of England.”