Press Release

Mums (and dads) wow Jeremy Hunt MP at Brent mental health centre

 
The Secretary of State for Health, the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP has visited a Brent based unit that provides support to mums experiencing mental health issues.

The Coombe Wood Perinatal Mental Health Unit, located at the Park Royal Mental Health Centre in Acton Lane, offers specialist perinatal inpatient and community-based treatment and support for pregnant and postnatal women experiencing mental health / emotional difficulties - and uniquely dads can stay there too. The service is run by Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) and treats mums-to-be and those with babies up to the age of 12 months with mental health issues from depression to bi-polar disorder.

The Secretary of State toured the centre which features a specialist inpatient unit that can admit up to eight women with moderate to severe mental health difficulties and their babies. One of the activities provided by Coombe Wood includes a Tummy and Rhyme session which provides an opportunity for mothers to relax and a reading session for babies. The minister chatted with the mothers whilst holding their babies. The unit is only one of 17 across the UK and treats women with pre-existing mental health issues who become pregnant, to women experiencing severe post-natal depression.

Dr Jona Lewin, Consultant Psychiatrist at the unit said: "It is essential that women receive support and treatment for their mental health in the perinatal period as any disruption to this period of bonding with their child may have long lasting adverse effects on the woman, the child and also the wider family."

Service Manager and Senior Psychiatric Nurse Tracey Lloyd who's worked at the centre for 26 years said: "The fact that the few mother and baby units in the UK are so spread out geographically means that there is not equity of access and in fact some mothers may be separated from their infants just because beds are not available within a realistic area. A lack of a cohesive community perinatal strategy for future services means that existing teams are sparse or evolving differently and it is postcode dependent on whether there is multidisciplinary specialist support available for women experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties."

ENDS.

Note to the Editor:

The Coombe Wood Perinatal Mental Health Unit also provides a specialist, residential parenting assessment service to local authorities, legal services, children's guardians and the courts. The team at Coombe Wood consists of clinicians, nurses, therapists and support staff who are experienced specialists offering mental health treatment for mothers and support with infant care & development.