Mother and Baby Unit - management of admitted infants

Description of service

Infants are admitted to the Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) with their mother, who has mental health issues. The infants are not admitted as boarders with their mother, but as patients in their own right. During the admission the mother receives care whilst maintaining a relationship with her infant. The early relationship between a mother and her infant are essential to social and emotional wellbeing.

All admissions are planned admissions. The unit is not able to admit infants who are unwell. The age of the infants admitted to the unit range from birth to one year of age.

Admissions to Unit

Infants are examined by the Child and Family Unit (CFU) House Officer within 24 hours of admission. If the infant should arrive later in the day, and the usual admitting doctors are not available, the medical examination can be deferred until the following day, as long as there are no concerns about the baby.

Acute illness in admitted infants

If MBU staff is concerned about an infant becoming acutely unwell while admitted, contact the General Paediatric registrar on call to come and assess the infant in the unit.

If an unwell infant needs investigations such as blood tests, X rays, etc, or medical admission, the infant should be taken to the Children's Emergency Department for further assessment and management. Phone the CED clinical charge nurse to let them know to expect the infant.

Non-acute issues

There is a General Paediatrician in the unit on a Thursday afternoon who deals with any non-urgent issues identified, and checks that the infant is linked into appropriate services (e.g. GP and Well Child Provider), checks on immunisation status and addresses any concerns raised by the parents or staff. Babies can be immunised while in MBU if immunisations are due/overdue.