Reasons for Admission
Most women who are admitted have significant problems with their mental health. For example, this may be severe depression, anxiety, or a psychotic illness such as a bipolar mood disorder. Most women who are admitted simply cannot manage the care of themselves and their baby at home, either because they are so unwell or sometimes because their illness complicates the management of a baby who may have some problems and there may not be enough other support to help out. All women who are admitted are psychiatrically unwell and come in with at least one child under the age of 5 years.

Referral
Women need to be referred either by a doctor or another hospital unit. The referring doctor may be a general practitioner, a psychiatrist or perhaps an obstetrician.

Staffing
There is excellent multidisciplinary teamwork. The team consists of psychiatric staff (consultant and trainee), nurses, clinical psychologists, a social worker and an occupational therapist.

Nursing and medical assessments are carried out at the time of admission and treatment programs tailored according to need. Most patients will require medication or other physical treatments for their illnesses. Most patients will also see the social worker who will assess supports and needs in the community and will often see other family members. If appropriate, the clinical psychologists may be involved in cognitive therapy or other programs around parent and child. As women begin to improve, they usually take part in a group program which is run in the ward and discharge planning takes place to enable a smooth transition back to the community. The average length of stay has been about 2 weeks.

Day Patient Services are run in a separate location from the Inpatient Unit, at the entrance to Glenside Hospital. Currently, it is available from 10am to 2.30pm on Wednesdays. It is staffed by an occupational therapist, a clinical psychologist and a community nurse. There are 2 groups during the day which address women's needs both as individuals and as parents. Women attend this program without their children so will need to arrange childcare (staff are very happy to discuss this.)

The aim of this service is to offer new knowledge and styles of handling problems so that women may either have shorter admissions to hospital or avoid hospitalisation altogether.

Ward staff are available on a 24 hour basis to counsel women in distress in the post-natal period. The extent of the support provided will vary according to the needs of the situation and the needs of the inpatients at that time. Advice may be given about immediate measures for help or about longer term sources of help. Occasionally an assessment can be undertaken by the staff in the unit, but in most cases, this will only occur after referral from doctors who are already involved or the client's general practitioner.

All staff are involved in education regarding post-natal psychiatric illness. With forward planning, most staff members are available for in-service lectures, group discussions etc to health organisations or community groups.

A telephone advice service is available for people seeking up-to-date information about community supports for post-natal depression, reading material, information about drugs for post-natal psychiatric problems in pregnancy and with breast-feeding.

Helen Mayo House staff also run an annual conference on issues associated with post-natal psychiatric illness and mother-infant mental health.

Staff often attend post-natal depression support groups either for specific educational input or to provide regular support. Staff conduct occasional seminars on telephone counselling to the South Australian self-help support group for PND, Overcoming Post-Natal Depression (OPND).

A community nurse position has been funded for one year (6/97-6/98) to ensure early and smooth transition for women from the ward, or in some cases to prevent hospitalisation.

FEEDBACK

For many people it can be a big step to enter hospital for care and treatment, or to attend an outpatient program to help with specific challenges. Being able to read about other people's experiences can really help.

If you have been a patient at Helen Mayo House or attended any of their programs,
please send us your feedback so we can share it with others here.

 

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