A NEW unit to help women who experience serious mental health issues during pregnancy and following childbirth will become the first of its kind in Wales, saving mums crossing the border to England to find such clinics.

Based at Tonna Hospital in Swansea, Uned Gobaith – or ‘Unit of Hope’ will offer specialist mental health care to women from 32 weeks of pregnancy until their child turns one year old.

Mothers in need of serious mental health care have previously either received support in the community, have been admitted to acute mental health wards without their babies, or have had to travel to one of the 21 specialist mother and baby units in England.

The new unit, which will open next month, is designed to be a 'home away from home', with six individual bedrooms, a shared living room and kitchen areas, and a playroom, quiet room and sensory room available to mothers and their babies.

An onsite multidisciplinary team, including psychologists, mental health nurses and psychiatrists, as well as social workers, health visitors, midwives and nursery nurses, will be on hand to support those admitted.

Minister for mental health and wellbeing, Eluned Morgan, said Uned Gobaith will “make a significant difference” to mothers needing mental health care.

“It is fantastic news that we have our own perinatal and baby unit in Wales to support those struggling with their mental health,” she said.

“This will make a significant difference to the experience of new mothers as they will be able to get the specialist support that they and their babies need closer to home.”

Sharon Fernandez, National Clinical Lead for Perinatal Mental Health, said the unit’s opening was a “huge step forward for the treatment of pregnant women and new mothers experiencing severe mental distress”.

"Providing this kind of specialised mental and emotional support for women at one of the most vulnerable times in their life is essential, and the family-friendly environment Uned Gobaith offers means that partners and older children can be involved and get the support they need too.”

During the development process, a patient and service user group provided crucial feedback, and also chose the unit’s name. A member of this group, Toni Evans, 34, from Port Talbot, began suffering with depression in 2019 while pregnant with her daughter, Sarah.

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After being admitted to an acute mental health ward following Sarah’s birth, she was later moved to a specialist mother and baby unit in Derby, when a space became available. While she made good progress during her time at the unit, Toni struggled with the distance between her and Sarah in Derby and her husband and son back home in South Wales.

Being so far away also meant that Toni struggled with returning back home, having to travel to Port Talbot for week-long stays, while other patients built up to longer stays by making shorter visits first.

“That was a difficult transition to go from being in the unit where you are so incubated and then back into the big wide world for a week with the baby and your family and everyday life,” she said.

“Some mums would go home for a little bit and it would be too much, but they could go back to the unit. I didn’t have that choice.

“It was just more pressure. I didn’t want to make my husband do that trip unnecessarily when he was doing it on weekends. It felt like I should suck it up and get on with it at home."

Toni has since been diagnosed with bipolar, and has made positive steps in her mental health journey, but believes that access to a local unit like Uned Gobaith would have made a real difference to her recovery.

“I think it would have been a lot smoother and I wouldn’t have felt so isolated there,” she said. “A unit here is just going to make an unbelievable difference for mothers in Wales. It definitely would have made a difference to me.”

Janet Williams, associate service director of mental health and learning disabilities at Swansea Bay University Health Board, said: “When Uned Gobaith opens, we will be able to help women like Toni who are experiencing serious mental health problems, and their babies, in a safe environment much closer to home.

“This important service will significantly enhance perinatal carer services across Wales and we are very proud to be hosting it in Swansea Bay University Health Board.”

This article originally appeared on the Argus' sister site The National.