BACKGROUND Mother and baby units (MBUs) are an inpatient mental health service where women experiencing acute severe postpartum psychiatric difficulties can be admitted with their babies. They are currently viewed as best practice in the UK and elsewhere. However, as service provision is fragmented, some women residing in areas without MBUs are admitted to acute general psychiatric wards without their infants. This study aimed to compare qualitatively experiences of these two service types from the perspectives of women and clinicians. METHODS Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen women who received treatment for perinatal mental health problems on a general psychiatric ward and/or MBU in England. Two focus groups were also conducted, one with MBU staff (n = 11) and one with acute ward staff (n = 6). Data were analysed thematically. RESULTS Women generally preferred being co-admitted with their baby to an MBU over lone admission to a general psychiatric ward. Women and clinicians felt that MBUs provided more perinatally-focused, family-centred care, and were better-equipped to meet women's needs. General wards were reported by women and staff to lack the necessary facilities and expertise to support perinatal women adequately, while separation of mothers and babies was often experienced by women as traumatic and detrimental to recovery. However, some areas for improvement were also identified across both service types, particularly relating to difficulties transitioning home post-discharge, inadequate support for family members, staffing issues and access problems (with MBUs). CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that specialist perinatal inpatient care is considered preferable to generic care in the perinatal period from both service user and staff perspectives. Increased collaboration between perinatal and non-perinatal services could help improve perinatal expertise on general psychiatric wards, while further expansion of perinatal services (e.g. to cater for women currently considered too high risk for MBUs and for those discharged from inpatient settings) could tackle other shortfalls in care.

中文翻译：

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对专业母婴室与普通精神科病房的经验进行定性比较。

背景技术母婴单位（MBU）是一种住院的精神卫生服务，在这里，患有急性严重产后精神病的妇女可以与婴儿一起入住。目前，在英国和其他地区，它们被视为最佳实践。但是，由于提供的服务比较分散，一些居住在没有MBU的地区的妇女被收留在没有婴儿的情况下进入急诊科。这项研究旨在从女性和临床医生的角度定性比较这两种服务类型的经验。方法对15名在英格兰普通精神病房和/或MBU接受围产期精神健康问题治疗的妇女进行了半结构式访谈。还进行了两个焦点小组讨论，一个小组由MBU工作人员（n = 11）和一个由急诊病房工作人员（n = 6）组成。对数据进行了专题分析。结果与一般的精神科病房单独入院相比，女性通常更愿意与婴儿共同进入MBU。妇女和临床医生认为，医疗事业部提供了更多以围产期为重点的，以家庭为中心的护理，并且满足了妇女的需求。妇女和工作人员报告说，普通病房缺乏必要的设施和专门知识，无法充分支持围产期妇女，而妇女经常经历母婴分离，这对创伤和康复不利。但是，在这两种服务类型中也确定了一些需要改进的地方，特别是与过渡出院后的困难，对家庭成员的支持不足，人员配备问题和进出问题（使用MBU）有关。结论研究结果表明，从服务使用者和工作人员的角度来看，在围产期，专科围产期住院护理被认为比普通护理更可取。围产期和非围产期服务之间加强合作可以帮助改善围产期在普通精神科病房的专业知识，同时进一步扩大围产期服务（例如，迎合目前被认为对MBUs风险过高的妇女以及那些因住院而出院的妇女）可以解决其他不足之处在照料中。