‘Place of healing’ for struggling parents in Queensland

Mothers and families experiencing severe post-natal depression, and other mental illnesses, will be cared for, with their babies, in Queensland’s first dedicated peri-natal mental health centre.

Rachel Thaiday with her daughters Gracie, 9, and Ellsie, 7. Rachel experienced crippling post-natal depression. Picture: J&A Photography

Mothers and families experiencing severe post-natal depression, and other mental illnesses, will be cared for, with their babies, in Queensland’s first dedicated peri-natal mental health centre.

Catherine’s House for Mothers, Babies and Families at the Mater Mothers’ Hospital’s South Brisbane campus will triple the number of hospital beds for parents suffering peri-natal mental health problems.

Previously, Queensland had the lowest ratio of public peri-natal mental health inpatient beds in Australia. There are just four public hospital beds dedicated for such patients at Gold Coast University Hospital’s Lavender Mother and Baby Unit, which currently has a waiting list of six to eight weeks.

One in five new mothers and one in 10 fathers experiences mental health problems in the weeks after their baby’s birth, and many struggle to find help.

Problems can be as severe as post-partum psychosis but more common are post-natal depression and anxiety, which can affect attachment and bonding.

“Sadly suicide is the leading cause of death for women in the peripartum period, which starts from preconception … up to three years after birth,” said Grace Branjerdporn, research and clinical lead at Catherine’s House.

“Unfortunately the time of birth is a significant trigger for the first onset of a mental illness or the relapse of an existing illness given the transition, the adjustment, the sleep changes, the biological changes and the stresses that come with having a baby.

“This new centre is really addressing a huge gap and an unmet community need.”

The Mater Foundation raised $17m in community donations to renovate and convert the former convent at Mater Hill. The Sisters of Mercy who founded the Mater lived there from the 1920s until 2014 when the convent was damaged in a large hailstorm.

The Queensland government contributed $7m to the capital works and is now providing $11m in annual operational funding for eight public beds in Catherine House’s inpatient unit, which will have 10 beds in total.

The facility will also support hundreds of new Queensland families each year with day programs, group and individual treatments, home visiting services and emotional support.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the opening of Catherine’s House was a landmark moment for peri-natal mental health in Queensland.

“I’m incredibly proud of the role Catherine’s House will play in meeting the growing demand for services from those impacted by peri-natal mental health disorders,” she said.

Mental health advocate Rachel Thaiday experienced crippling post-natal depression, particularly after the birth of her second daughter with retired NRL player Sam Thaiday.

“I didn’t have that maternal connection. I just didn’t feel how I expected to be feeling,” Ms Thaiday says. “I was really numb, I felt disembodied, and I didn’t know how to ask for help.

“Every day when the sun went down I would panic my way into the night, feeling like I don’t want to do this again. It was a constant feeling of just not knowing how to get through another day.”

Ms Thaiday is thrilled that people who suffer similar symptoms will have greater support.

Mater Health chief executive Donna Bonney said the Sisters of Mercy were delighted with the new purpose for their old convent.

“The Mater has always been a place for women and babies, it’s like coming full circle, it’s a place of healing and recovery for women,” Ms Bonney said.