Nottinghamshire Healthcare’s Perinatal Psychiatric Inpatient Unit will be officially named in honour of the consultant who developed the service.
The unit, which is based at the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) will be named The Margaret Oates Mother and Baby Unit Nottingham by Trust Chief Executive Professor Mike Cooke CBE at a ceremony on Friday 22 July 2011.
Dr Margaret Oates OBE initially set up the Mother and Baby Unit at Mapperley Hospital in 1974. It was relocated to the QMC in 1984 and is now in its third premises.
Margaret developed and led the Nottinghamshire Perinatal Mental Health Service including the Mother and Baby Unit and Community and Maternity Liaison Service from 1978 to 2008 and was responsible for developing the first Perinatal CPN Service in UK.
Currently Margaret works as a Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist for Nottinghamshire Healthcare and is a Director of the NHS East Midlands Perinatal Mental Health Clinical Network. She is also a Central Psychiatric Assessor for Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths (CMACE) and Clinical Lead for Royal College of Psychiatrists Quality Care Network for Perinatal Psychiatry.
Margaret advises nationally and internationally on service provision and is currently working with the Specialised Commissioning Group to develop an East Midlands-wide Perinatal Mental Health Service.
Commenting on the naming, Margaret said: “I am honoured and touched, not least because I know that the idea of naming the unit came from the nursing staff. It is their skilled care that makes the unit so special and valued and will ensure its continuing success in years to come.”
The Mother and Baby Unit cares for women with serious mental illness in late pregnancy and the postpartum year, helping them to care for their babies whilst receiving the care and attention needed for their mental health. The service aims to ensure that all women from Nottinghamshire who require admission to a psychiatric unit following delivery are admitted to the unit unless there are specific contra‐indications.
The unit provides physical and psychological care and admits on average 40 - 50 mothers and their infants per year. The philosophy of the unit is to provide rapid and effective care for the maternal mental illness whilst promoting the mother/infant relationship and safeguarding the infant.
The unit was recently accredited by the Quality Network for Perinatal Mental Health Services, a reflection of the high quality service it provides. The review team and report highlighted the professionalism and commitment of staff, the strength of the community team and the high level of support and care provided.
Judy Gardiner, Ward Manager said: “The naming of the unit will officially recognise the hard work and commitment of Margaret over the years. Without her dedication many women and babies may not have received the specialist care they needed at such a vulnerable time of their lives.”
