Push for essential mother and baby unit in state after St Helen’s Private Hospital closure

After experiencing extreme sleep deprivation when her second son was born, Rebekah McWhirter’s life was changed when she was admitted to the mum and bub unit. But the lack of services makes her worried for other Tasmanian families.

Rebekah McWhirter with son Oscar Marthick 5. Rebekah spent time as an inpatient at the mother and baby unit at St Helens Private Hospital in Hobart that has now closed with Oscar when he was a baby. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Enduring countless sleepless nights, Hobart mum Rebekah McWhirter found herself hitting a wall when her second son couldn’t sleep.

“In between the ages of four months and 11 months, Oscar (now five years old) wouldn’t sleep for longer than 45 minutes at a time and that kind of sleep deprivation is quite intense,” she said.

Eventually, the associate professor was juggling work and study on top of caring for two children and sleep deprivation.

“That’s when the wheels kind of fell off,” she said. “I just sort of hit a wall and we couldn’t really cope any longer. I went and saw my GP and she was like, ‘we’ll send you off to the mother baby unit’.”

Rebekah McWhirter with son Oscar Marthick 5. Rebekah spent time as an inpatient at the mother and baby unit at St Helens Private Hospital in Hobart that has now closed with Oscar when he was a baby. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Professor McWhirter spent a life changing five nights in the mother baby unit.

“The staff there were amazing. They are so knowledgeable, so experienced and just the kindest people,” she said.

“They taught him to sleep through the night and allowed me to put myself back together and get a bit more resilient so that I could go home and implement all of the strategies that they taught me for helping my kids to sleep.”

St Helen's Private Hospital, Hobart. Picture: Chris Kidd

She said there is a “natal care cliff” that many families fall from after having a baby.

“It’s so important in those early days that everyone has equitable access to the support that they need so that babies get the best start that they can. But those first years of life are just critical,” she said.

“There’s kind of a natal care cliff, you’re quite well cared for up to the birth, and then they send you home and then off you go.”

It comes as the government announced plans to establish a mother and baby unit in the public health system after the unit at St Helen’s Private Hospital closed.

. Tasmanian GP Dr Toby Gardner

“However, more needs to be done to improve access to this essential care and ensure all Tasmanian children get the best start in life,” RACGP Tasmania Chair Dr Toby Gardner said.

“The proposals in our budget submission will do just that – giving all Tasmanians access to a dedicated mother and baby service, as well as getting more GPs training and working in the communities that need them and improving access to lifesaving vaccinations.

“Tasmania is the only state that doesn’t have a community-based mother and baby

service. Yet as many as one-in-five Tasmanian mums experience perinatal depression and anxiety, and tragically 21 per cent of maternal suicides are due to severe depression. Funding a mother and baby service for all Tasmania would make a huge difference – early intervention is key to saving lives and giving kids the best start in life.”

Originally published as Push for essential mother and baby unit in state after St Helen’s Private Hospital closure