Patient praises life-saving care at Mother and Baby Unit
A patient who received outstanding care at Nottinghamshire Healthcare's Margaret Oates Mother and Baby Unit (MBU), after being diagnosed with postnatal depression, says she owes her life to the amazing team of practitioners.
Stef Scurr was 32 when she gave birth to her first child, Harlan, but quickly knew that something wasn't right in herself. She was seen by a Crisis team and Perinatal team in her home county of North Yorkshire but the medication plan put into place wasn't showing any signs of improvement and Stef's condition spiralled radically from the initial birth trauma.
In a moment of desperation, Stef took an overdose. Little did she know that this was to become the start of her journey to recovery.
Stef and husband Andrew took the painful decision to get Stef and Harlan into an MBU. With the nearest MBU to Stef having no available beds at the time of her admission, they came to the Trust's Margaret Oates MBU based at Hopewood in Nottingham.
Stef said:
This was the hardest decision as a family and the longest drive of our lives, and I was terrified. I knew how ill I had become, and I had to try something, but walking into the hospital and leaving Andrew at the door was the hardest thing I've ever done. The unit became mine and Harlan's home for the next six weeks. The worst and best decision I've ever made. I genuinely owe my life to the amazing team at Margaret Oates.
Debbie Sells, Ward Manager at the Margaret Oates MBU said:
As a team we are privileged to have looked after Stef. With time, reassurance, treatment and staff giving Stef hope when she felt she didn't have any, we saw her recover and be discharged home. The unit offered Stef and her family a safe space to recover from one of the most difficult periods in a woman's life, one which is dreamt about being a special experience for families.
Since her admission Stef and Andrew have continually supported the unit with fundraising, visits, gifts and more recently developing a campaign named Brighter Skies, in the hope for improving perinatal mental health care in her own area.
Andrew, Stef's husband, added:
After the most heartbreaking of goodbyes to Stef and Harlan as I left them at the MBU, I didn't know what to expect. The following day we had our first meeting with Amy, the consultant psychiatrist and immediately we both felt like we had been put at ease. Stef was put on the right medication and within days there started to be an improvement.
Over the next weeks Stef had lots of ups and downs but crucially was getting better and six weeks later came home. If it wasn't for Nottinghamshire Healthcare's MBU and all the professional, caring, reassuring, patient, amazing staff there I'm not sure how things would have turned out. With hindsight we should have done it much earlier as this was the turning point for Stef's recovery. I can never thank the team at Nottingham enough for giving us back Stef, and we are forever grateful.
Stef said:
My key worker Pip, ward manager Debbie and my consultant Amy made for an incredible team, that I feel truly so lucky to have been assigned too. Their care, expertise, patience, understanding and compassion, well there really aren't the words to describe how much it meant to me. From the very start of being on the ward Pip just made me feel so safe, something I hadn't felt in a long time.
We can never thank them enough, for keeping my light shining for me, when I could not.
Joseph Sullivan, Mental Health Care Group Director, said:
It's fantastic to hear such deserved recognition for the whole team at the Margaret Oates Mother and Baby Unit. Their dedication and commitment to supporting mothers with serious mental illness and providing the highest standards of care and compassion is something the Trust is very proud of, at what is one of the most vulnerable and frightening times of patients' lives.
When Stef became poorly with depressive symptoms after her second child, she chose to come out of area again to the Trust's MBU as her experience had been so positive. A true testament to the compassionate and quality of care Stef has received at the unit.
Following Stef and Andrew's birth journey, they have set up a campaign called Brighter skies in the hope that their story helps to support women who have perinatal mental health issues and to put a spotlight on improving perinatal support and care.
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