Why mothers are being separated from their babies in the UK

Doctors blast

Doctors blast ‘disgraceful’ lack of
specialist care for women with postnatal depression

In Depth Hinnah Mian

Perinatal mental health problems affect up to 20% of
women during pregnancy or in the first year after giving
birth, and cover a wide range of conditions. “If left untreated, it
can have significant and long-lasting effects on the woman and her
family,” says the NHS website.

Failings by mental health services mean some babies are
being left at risk of being harmed by their mothers, or seperated
from them, according to medics. 

The annual meeting of the British Medical
Assocation (BMA) heard that in some cases, babies
are being put in care, “when they should have been cared for in
wards while their struggling mothers receives help”, reports
The Daily Telegraph.

With just 2.4 NHS beds per 1,000 people in England, the
health service needs a total of 74,000 more beds to catch up with
the EU average of 3.7 per 1,000 people, says the newspaper.

“The reason that we struggle to find beds is that there are 131
perinatal beds in the entirety of the UK. There are no inpatient
perinatal beds in Northern Ireland nor in Wales. This is a
disgrace,” Dr Kelly Cruickshank, a liaison psychiatrist from
Salford Royal Hospital, told delegates at the BMA meeting, in
Brighton.

Dr Cruickshank said it was “vitally important” to keep mothers
and babies together in order to encourage bonding, and that
separation has been proven to worsen mental health for both the
mother and the child. 

“It is going to take longer to recover if you have these
horrible feelings of guilt about not being able to properly care
for your baby,” said Cruickshank.