Northern NSW Mother and Baby Unit
Petitioner:
Mrs Melinda McLennan
| Member:
Gulaptis, Christopher
| No. of Signatories:
8,189
| Date closed:
04/05/2022
To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly, The Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSW LHD) has an estimated population of 304,857, with 19.1% of adults recorded as having ‘High or very high psychological distress.’ This is higher than the state average which sits at 16.7%.
Current perinatal services in NNSW LHD are inadequate as they lack the support, education and funding required to meet the basic needs, wellbeing and mental health of all mothers. While there are services provided by NNSW LHD to support mothers postnatally, these services are under huge pressure systemically and financially and are not able to run efficiently and effectively to support mothers to the level needed.
As a result, the NNSW LHD requires a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) to provide specialised care for women who require admission to hospital for significant mental health difficulties.
In NSW, there are currently two MBU’S in Sydney, with an additional unit in development. These highly specialised units are not readily available within our community and while women from NNSW LHD are eligible for referral, the distance to travel and significant dislocation from the community and family support makes this service highly unattainable.
We the signatories of this petition, call on the NSW Government to take immediate action to improve perinatal care for all women in the NNSW LHD by,
*Enhancing the local budget, recruiting appropriately skilled and specialised staff and securing a suitable and available location for the establishment of a MBU in the NNSW LHD.
