In the UK we have some mother and baby units for women with post partum psychosis. They're much better for the women, most people spend around 7-8 weeks in them I was borderline ending up in one.
Post partum psychosis is really misunderstood - a lot of the psychosis comes from actually wanting to protect your child to the point that you become a danger to them. I flipped between delusions that started with the thought that social services coming to take them so I packed bags for them so they wouldn't be without their things, but that eventually lead to "knowing" the government were trying to steal my youngest child so I planned to kill both of us.
I also had delusions where he wasn't a real baby but a being that wanted to harm my eldest daughter. That was a really dangerous time for my baby.
I kept both of my kids the whole time, and with a lot of support and therapy, and with a multidisciplinary team around me I'm ok again. 7 years later I've qualified as a therapist myself, and hope to start working in the postpartum field soon.
ETA: the good faith comments have ended and I'm getting nowt but pithy one liners from trolls saying ridiculous things. Going to turn off comments and stop responding now.
I wish mother and baby units existed in the US they could help so many mothers who are experiencing any type of illness not just PPD and its counterparts.
Sorry asking from the UK - do they not exist at all for you? I presumed it would have a price, like all your healthcare, but to not have one seems mental. Ours are a long way from perfect and miss a lot,but I know people that struggled and to have them with their kids and dedicated, trained, supportive staff made a huge difference.
This. My youngest is 2, and at its worst point I was in psychosis for weeks. Not only did I get no help from doctors, no help with my baby, but my husband was an asshole the entire time. I'm only just now returning to something close to normal.
High risk pregnancy here (am bipolar, was on bipolar meds, few other health issues). I didn’t have any bad intentions or ill thoughts (besides I wanted to run away) but it was super easy to lie to the docs. They didn’t care one way or another, tbh.
The pediatrician? She didn’t even give a shit when my kid couldn’t properly communicate before entering kindergarten. “The schools will sort it out!” - I had to argue about a private eval cause NO ONE UNDERSTOOD my kid the first 2 weeks of school before I got special permission due to speech disorder.
I’ve been chronically ill since born, I’m 37. Bipolar runs in (at least) 3 generations before me. There’s a host of other things but point blank?
The medical industry disregards women about 97% of the time. Honest. My C-section got botched, had to have a hysterectomy at 26… since then, I’ve visited 15+ doctors… legit 2 doctors have legitimately cared…
Let’s not talk about the ignorance of the average Americans…
It’s truly astonishing but not surprising. The average citizens opinions is the cherry on the top.
Women healthcare is lacking.
Mental healthcare is lacking.
American intelligence is lacking.
We do actually call them Mom Baby units (or at least 20 years ago that’s what many hospitals called them), but as many people have pointed out, the length of stay on those units was anywhere from 1-3 days.
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u/Playful_Flower5063 Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 06 '26
In the UK we have some mother and baby units for women with post partum psychosis. They're much better for the women, most people spend around 7-8 weeks in them I was borderline ending up in one.
Post partum psychosis is really misunderstood - a lot of the psychosis comes from actually wanting to protect your child to the point that you become a danger to them. I flipped between delusions that started with the thought that social services coming to take them so I packed bags for them so they wouldn't be without their things, but that eventually lead to "knowing" the government were trying to steal my youngest child so I planned to kill both of us.
I also had delusions where he wasn't a real baby but a being that wanted to harm my eldest daughter. That was a really dangerous time for my baby.
I kept both of my kids the whole time, and with a lot of support and therapy, and with a multidisciplinary team around me I'm ok again. 7 years later I've qualified as a therapist myself, and hope to start working in the postpartum field soon.
ETA: the good faith comments have ended and I'm getting nowt but pithy one liners from trolls saying ridiculous things. Going to turn off comments and stop responding now.