Written evidence submitted by Louise Howard, Professor of Women’s Mental Health & Dr Kylee Trevillion, Senior Lecturer in Women’s Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (MHB0053)
In direct response to two questions raised by the Joint Committee:
Are there any additions you would like to see to the draft bill?
We strongly recommend that mothers with severe mental illness, especially those with young babies, who require admission under the MHA should have the right to be admitted to a specialist Mother and Baby Unit (MBU). Our published evidence on the importance of the maternal-infant bond in outcomes for mother and the infant (3) and mothers’ preference for tailored specialist perinatal care (4) supports this recommendation.
References:
Stein A, Pearson RM, Goodman SH, Rapa E, Rahman A, McCallum M, Howard LM, Pariante CM. Effects of perinatal mental disorders on the fetus and child. Lancet. 2014 Nov 15;384(9956):1800-19. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61277-0. Epub 2014 Nov 14. PMID: 25455250. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25455250/
Howard LM, Abel KM, Atmore KH, Bick D, Bye A, Byford S, et al. Perinatal mental health services in pregnancy and the year after birth: the ESMI research programme including RCT. Programme Grants Appl Res 2022;10(05) https://doi.org/10.3310/CCHT9881
What do you think of the proposed replacement of “nearest relative” with “nominated persons”?
We welcome this. People with severe mental health problems who are admitted under the Mental Health Act have a high prevalence of experiences of domestic abuse from the nearest relative and we therefore support this change which will be safer and potentially less abusive.
Reference:
Oram, Sian et al. The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on intimate partner violence and mental health: advancing mental health services, research, and policy. The Lancet Psychiatry, Volume 9, Issue 6, 487 – 524 2022 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(22)00008-6/fulltext#section-3d6acba1-acea-4be2-8dc9-b7e14e5b6583.
16 September 2022
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