Debate contribution: Mother-and-baby Unit

Debate contribution by Mr Alan Robinson on 7 October 2025.

MLA

Mr Alan Robinson

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

7 October 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Mother-and-baby Unit

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5164602

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank the proposer of the motion. I will speak on the need for a regional mother-and-baby unit. Bringing a child into the world is often described as one of life's most fulfilling, joyful experiences. I can think of the happiness of my wife and I when our little girl was born on New Year's Eve in Causeway Hospital. It is an emotion that I recall well of being overwhelmingly joyful, yet, for some mothers, it can also be a time of overwhelming emotional turmoil, fear and isolation. Postpartum mental health challenges, including the deeply distressing and frightening condition of postpartum psychosis, can arise suddenly and with devastating impact. Indeed, every year, around 35 women in the Province experience this condition. No mother should have to face such a crisis alone, and, crucially, no mother should be forced to choose between accessing life-saving treatment and staying with her baby. We in this region remain the only part of the UK without a dedicated MBU, with us being told that an MBU will not be operational until at least 2030, even though it is a topic that has been recognised as a need as far back as 20 years ago. As of 2023, there were 22 accredited units in the UK — two in Scotland and one in Wales. You could therefore safely say that this is a shortfall in our healthcare system. Mothers here deserve the same level of support that is afforded to families elsewhere. My understanding is that there is no MBU in Ireland also, but work is under way. However, it appears that they too are no further forward than we are. A mother-and-baby unit is a place where mothers can receive specialist expert inpatient care while remaining close to their babies, preserving that vital bond that is central to maternal recovery and infant well-being. Research states that some women feel lifelong trauma and guilt as a result of being separated from their newborn baby. Other research found that women who have been treated in MBUs recover better and feel more satisfied with their care, keeping mums together in a safe and supportive environment. The status quo, where mothers are placed in acute psychiatric wards separated from their newborns in settings that are neither designed nor resourced to meet their unique needs, just is not fair. Indeed, it is estimated that around 35 women will require hospitalisation every year for postpartum psychosis. It is deeply tragic for those women. The death in 2018 of Orlaith Quinn, who took her own life on a ward at the Royal Jubilee, saw the coroner call for an MBU in 2022. We cannot see another tragic case such as that. I look forward to the Minister updating the Assembly on the current status of the business case for establishing a mother-and-baby unit at Belfast City Hospital. We submitted an amendment as some members of a local peer support group support the need for the Minister to put in place an interim measure that will provide specialist care while the unit is being created. Some others would prefer women to travel to the mainland for gold standard care, but an interim measure cannot be a replacement for the funding and building of a specific MBU. Some others suggest that a dedicated ward, properly staffed and properly treating conditions like postpartum psychosis, would be better that what we currently have on offer. Mothers deserve better than what is currently offered, families deserve better, and our newborn babies in their first few days in this world deserve better.

599 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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