ACT Labor promises to establish first mums and bubs mental health unit in the capital

If re-elected in October, ACT Labor has promised to establish Canberra’s first inpatient mental health facility where pregnant women and their newborns can be treated together.

“[This six-bed facility is] where parents can go with their babies to get the mental health, intensive mental health supports they need without having to be separated from their babies,” ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said.

Melanie Wilde, CEO of advocacy group Mental Health Community Coalition ACT, welcomed the news.

Ms Wilde has campaigned for years to get more support for new mothers.

“Right now in the ACT, if you don’t have someone else who can come in to look after your baby or you don’t want to be away from your baby, there’s literally nowhere else you can go unless you go interstate… the closest place is Sydney,” she said.

“It’s a really serious issue when we know that at least one in five mums suffer from perinatal depression… you don’t have a gender equal mental health care system if you don’t have a place where mums can take their babies.”

As a single mother to eight-month-old son Rafael, Ms Wilde said she had first-hand experience of the gaps in the system.

“Like many women, I went through an experience I was really unprepared for, which was my partner left…,” she said.

“Even as a CEO, I was suddenly put in an incredibly challenging financial and social situation where the systems we have in this country do very little to address [it].

“My first few months after giving birth were very hard… the costs of a baby are very significant… just knowing there’s somewhere you can go and it’s in the public system and it’s not costly [is important].”

ACT Labor said it would also partner with charity Roundabout Canberra to provide a ‘baby bundle’ for first-time parents.

“The bundles will include essential items and information to support the safety, health and wellbeing of a newborn and their family. We will work with Roundabout to provide other essential items to the families who need it most,” a Labor spokesperson said.

“As part of our commitment to hire 800 health workers in the next term, we will [also] hire more midwives and expand the continuity of care program across the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children and the North Canberra Hospital.”

Labor is also committing to establish a low-cost public IVF service.

“A scoping study is underway and if re-elected we will continue to explore options for making fertility treatment more affordable,” the spokesperson said.

Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee said Labor was pinching her party’s idea.

“This announcement comes on the back of the Canberra Liberals’ IVF policy we announced several months ago in relation to delivering rebates for Canberra families who are going through the heartbreaking journey of accessing IVF services and we know the financial impost this does place on families,” she said.

“We are talking about a Labor-Greens government that has been in power for 23 years and it is incredibly disappointing it has taken them a month before the election to actually come out with support in this space and it appears there have been no costings put forward and it does lack a lot of detail.”

Ms Wilde said although it had been a long time coming, her organisation would push Labor to deliver on its promises.

“I have faith in the capacity of my members to make sure the government will follow through… I sit on 20 committees… It’s been a very strong and effective campaign by a lot of us and we’ll keep going.”

Sneha KC, a registered nurse and Independents for Canberra candidate for Yerrabi, said the Labor announcement missed the mark.

“[The] baby bundle is a thoughtful gesture but what young families in Yerrabi really need are accessible after-hours pharmacies and reliable GPs, especially when a child is sick. Currently, after-hours GPs are promoted but often unavailable, leaving families with limited options,” she said.

“What we really need is round-the-clock maternal and child services in each electorate. In Yerrabi, the new ‘nappy valley’, the need for maternal and child services is particularly urgent.”