Specialist mother and baby unit
Deputy Quaide calls for specialist inpatient mother-and-baby care so distressed mothers are not separated from their infants; Minister Butler outlines expanded perinatal mental-health services.
Imagine a new mother in acute psychological distress being told that to get the inpatient care she needs she must be separated from her baby. This is still the reality in Ireland because, nine years after it was recommended, we still do not have a specialist mother and baby unit. This is highlighted today on thejournal.ie. The Irish Association for Infant Mental Health, I-AIMH, is clear that women and babies should be supported together. We know this in our bones. A mother and her baby should not be separated. That early bond is foundational and separation can worsen the mental health difficulty itself.
This sits against the gravest possible backdrop. Suicide is the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths between six weeks and one year after birth. Ireland, of all countries, should understand the consequences of separating mothers and babies. We have a painful history of doing exactly that. A modern health service should never recreate that separation. After nine years, what is holding this unit up and when exactly will it open?
Comment on this
Perinatal mental healthcare has been transformed over the past ten years. We now have six consultant-led multidisciplinary teams in our major maternity hospitals and specialist perinatal midwives providing targeted supports in a further 13 hospitals. This means that perinatal mental health services are now available in all 19 maternity hospitals. The demand has been huge. Nearly one in five of all pregnant mothers has looked for support. Some need more support than others. In budget 2026, I funded a further consultant psychiatrist to work in two of the main teams in Dublin, at the Rotunda and the Coombe.
In relation to the specific question from the Deputy, St. Vincent's University Hospital has been selected as the location for Ireland's first perinatal mother and baby unit. The Department of Health continues to progress this plan as part of the wider capital plan.
I have secured up to €470 million for mental health capital spending up to 2030. I hope to progress this project as quickly as possible.