Melinda McLennan calls for Mother and Baby Unit in northern NSW

After being turned away when she felt she was in critical need, this northern NSW mother is seeking 20,000 signatures for her calls for a specialised support unit for new mums to to go state parliament.

Bringing a child into the world is a beautiful thing, but it can also be a turbulent and isolating time for new parents.

A Northern Rivers woman who feels she slipped through the cracks after the birth of her daughter has called for stronger support mechanisms.

Casino-based Melinda McLennan has amassed more than 6000 signatures on a parliamentary petition calling for the establishment of a specialised Mother and Baby Unit in northern NSW.

In the petition, Mrs McLennan highlighted the Northern NSW Local Health District having more than the state average of adults living with high or very high psychological distress.

She has argued the region’s perinatal services are not meeting the complex needs of new mothers.

The birth of her daughter Evie was challenging in itself and Mrs McLennan struggled in the time that followed.

With medical staff concerned about her fluid levels at almost 42 weeks gestation, Mrs McLennan was induced – something she wasn’t prepared for. “I started doubting myself,” she said.

“I went into hospital and got checked.”

Casino mother Melinda McLennan with husband Simon and daughter Evie. Mrs McLennan is calling for the establishment of a Mother and Babies Unit in northern NSW. Picture: Liana Boss

Evie’s heart rate had dropped and they lost it for a period of time.

Things escalated when someone “slammed the emergency button”.

“I think from that point eight to 10 people fly in and I had no idea what was happening,” she said.

Evie was born on a Wednesday afternoon and they were sent home within 48 hours.

Mrs McLennan said she felt this was too soon.

“You can see there’s this systemic pressure,” she said.

“On paper, it looked beautiful.”

But she didn’t feel ready.

“I didn’t have the capacity, didn’t have the awareness, didn’t have the understanding to say no I’m not ready, this is what I need,” she said.

After returning home, she experienced a “spaced out feeling” and a “warped sense of time”

“You go as gently as you can but then … you don’t feel safe in your body because you’ve got these feelings that you know are not right and you’ve got this baby,” she said.

Mrs McLennan believes a better equipped, centralised service would be crucial for those who need critical care, without risking being separated from their newborns for that care.

She has appealed to numerous politicians on the issue.

Melinda McLennan has lobbied various politicians on the issue and has lodged an e-petition with the NSW parliament. Picture: Liana Boss

While Mrs McLennan isn’t one of her local constituents, she approached Lismore MP Janelle Saffin because she gave birth at Lismore Base Hospital.

“They forwarded my letter to the local health district and then got a response back saying there’s services in the area to help women in vulnerable circumstances,” Mrs McLennan said.

Critically, Mrs McLennan said she accessed all the services available to her at the time she gave birth, including the Tresillian Family Care Centre, the Australian Breastfeeding Association, her GP, a psychologist and Beyond Blue.

The local health district told her there had been a new position of a clinical midwifery consultant for perinatal health newly appointed since that time.

She was also told northern NSW residents could be referred to services in Sydney, although this creates the added issue of displacement.

Mrs McLennan also wrote to Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis, who referred the matter to NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard.

She said that resulted in effectively the same response as she received from the health district “saying there’s services there, this is what‘s here, but there was no action to do anything else”.

Mrs McLennan gave birth to her daughter Evie at Lismore Base Hospital and later on, presented there with concerns she was unable to cope.

She said the region’s existing support services did their best with their resources, but argued there are still mothers in need who aren’t getting all they need.

“Tresillian is really important – I was a client up there – it’s the capacity of their service and what they’re outlined to provide,” she said.

“My needs were far exceeding what they could give me.”

In her postnatal period, Mrs McLennan presented to hospital five times.

She felt she wasn’t coping.

“It got to the point where (I thought) they can‘t help me, my family can’t help me; I could see they were getting increasingly distressed,” she said.

She was encouraged to go to mothers’ groups and to seek more family support.

“I’d been doing all this and people were telling me it was going to get better and it was getting worse,” she said.

One morning at 4am when her mother-in-law took her to Lismore Base Hospital in severe distress, Mrs McLennan said she was effectively turned away.

Mrs McLennan hopes to attract at least 20,000 signatures for her e-petition to parliament. Picture: Liana Boss

“Someone who messaged me said they went through the same thing and eventually they did have an attempt (to take their own life) and they finally got help, but in a psychiatric unit away from their baby with other mentally ill people,” she said.

“It’s not the right environment for a new mum when you know you need help but you have this aching pain that you want to be with your baby because you actually need to heal with your baby.

“It’s not acceptable to heal away from your baby because you were together for nine months.

“I knew I needed all those services in one spot.”

She said accessing the Sydney-based services was simply not realistic for northern NSW families.

“It’s not a sufficient solution for people in this area because it’s a long way to travel and it’s such a dislocation,” she said.

As an e-petition, Mrs McLennan will need to gather at least 20,000 signatures for the matter to be placed before parliament.

The petition, which closes on May 4, can be found here.

Northern NSW Local Health District acting chief executive Lynne Weir said there were a range of services available to women and their families who experience mental health issues during pregnancy and in the postnatal period.

“Our Perinatal Infant Mental Health service provides support to women with mental health disorders who are pregnant or have children aged 0-2 years,” Ms Weir said.

“It also provides consultation and support to other health professionals working with this client group, for example to Child and Family Health Nurses and other Mental Health clinicians.

“Women who are pregnant or have young infants can also access our Community Mental Health Services for treatment and case management if appropriate for their individual illness.”

Ms Weir said universal screening and referrals in antenatal and postnatal periods were available through the health district’s Safe Start model.

“This integrated approach across maternity, child and family health and mental health services aims to co-ordinate care for parents with high risk factors including mental health and psychosocial issues,” she said.

“Support for new parents is also provided through Tresillian centres in Lismore and Grafton, which provide day services for women to attend with their baby to receive wellbeing support in transitioning to parenting.

“A residential Tresillian centre in Macksville also provides the opportunity for women to stay overnight with their baby for a period of days.”

Ms Weir said Mother and Baby Units are specialised centres which provide care for women who need to be admitted to hospital for “significant mental health difficulties” in the 12 months following childbirth in a way that “impact on the ability to function in everyday life and to care for their newborn/infant”.

“In NSW there are currently two MBUs planned to provide highly specialised statewide services at Westmead and Royal Prince Alfred Hospitals,” she said.

“The RPA unit will be completed by the middle of this year.

“Women from NNSWLHD are eligible to be referred to these MBUs.”