Referral eligibility criteria:
- Mother with complex and severe mental health problems that
are unable to be managed in the community.
- Mother must be the primary carer for their infant, or
infants, under 12 months.
- Woman who is in the last trimester of pregnancy with
unstableand sever mental illness may be considered
Referrals are prioritised according to acuity of mental
health problem, age of infant and availability of alternative outpatient
management.
Exclusion criteria:
- Primary clinical problem is substance/alcohol abuse or
dependence.
- We do not admit for assessment of parenting capacity and/or
child protection or forensic reports.
- There is no capacity to admit infants or mother who has
significant physical health problems.
- Women must have capacity to provide care or support the
infant.
Referral process:
- Complete referral form on the MBU Webpage.
- The referral will be reviewed for appropriateness and
triaged by the Intake Clinician.
- Referrals will be reviewed by the multi-disciplinary team.
- The intake clinician will make contact for further
information and if required complete an assessment to discuss suitability for
admission; this may be face to face or via Telehealth.
- Intake team will inform you of the outcome.
Waiting for admission
The Mother and Baby Unit are unable to provide care in the
‘waiting for admission’ period. Parents, children, partners and their families are
likely to require ongoing support from mental health and child and family
health services whilst waiting for admission.
MBU will prioritise
referrals according to clinical need. For example: Women with severe mental
health problems and who are breast feeding young babies have a higher priority
for admission.
When a bed
becomes available a MBU staff member will contact you and your patient.
During the
waiting period MBU takes no responsibility for the setting up of alternative
supports. It is the referrers responsibility to ensure that appropriate
care is provided in the interim.
Contact Us
Address: Westmead Mother and Baby Unit, redbank House, Building D, Dragonfly Drive, Westmead 2145
Email: [email protected]