“A clinic where I could have been brought in with my baby” - NWC in urgent call for pyschiatric unit

Published: Wednesday, September 23, 2026

With suicide the leading cause of maternal death, the National Women’s Council reiterates its call for a Mother and Baby Psychiatric Unit in Budget 2027

Press release, 23 September 2026

The National Women’s Council (NWC) has called for answers on why a long-promised Mother and Baby Psychiatric Unit, where postpartum women could be admitted for mental health difficulties along with their babies, has still not been built. With suicide the leading cause of maternal death in 2025, NWC says this could not be more urgent.

Speaking in support of NWC’s call, Comedian, podcaster and mother of two, Laura O’Connell, said:

“I suffered with postnatal depression after my first child. What I wouldn’t have done for a clinic that noticed my symptoms, where I could have been brought in with my baby right there, given the rest, the care, the support I needed, and been told it was ok to feel how I was feeling. Had there been a mother and baby unit at the time, I don’t know if I would have ended up in psychiatric care years later.” 

A Mother and Baby Unit is a unit where postpartum women who need in-patient mental health care can be treated by a multidisciplinary team, including psychiatrists, mental health nurses, and other specialists. It is set up in such a way that she can have her baby with her, and where activities like breastfeeding, learning to care for her baby, and bonding with her baby are all supported. It is just one part of an ecosystem of wraparound supports for postpartum women, but there are currently none in Ireland. NWC Executive Director, Corrinne Hasson, said:

“Pregnancy and the year after giving birth is one of the most vulnerable times of many women’s lives. We tell women to seek help if they are not feeling like themselves, and yet if a woman experiencing serious or complex mental health difficulties tried to access in-patient care, she would be separated from her baby. Some women may not have enough support to do this, other women may not want to do this, and that should never mean they cannot access care. The option to bring her baby in must be open to her. Why has the planned Mother and Baby Unit not gone ahead? The women of Ireland need answers on this.”  

Formal postpartum care in Ireland currently extends to six weeks, even though the majority of maternal suicides happen between six weeks and one year. Alongside the call for a Mother and Baby Unit, NWC is calling for postpartum care to be extended to cover the full year after childbirth, aligning with the Year of Care campaign. This follows The Journal Investigates findings that women are not always able to access the care they need.

Paula Pinzón Hernández, Senior Policy Coordinator at NWC, said:

“We need to take a much more holistic approach to women’s health in the postpartum period. We know many symptoms of mental health difficulties don’t even show up until 6 weeks after childbirth. From our work with GPs we know challenges often present around the 3 month mark, and again around the 9 month mark, which is when many women go back to work. So it doesn’t make sense that postpartum care ends at six weeks. Women deserve much better.”

NWC has called for the Mother and Baby Unit to be financed in Budget 2027, alongside more resources for mental health in general. NWC is also calling for the publication of the next National Maternity Strategy in early next year, as the current strategy runs from 2016-2026.

Ends/

For comment: Corrinne Hasson, Laura O’Connell and Paula Pinzón Hernández

For more information, please contact Sinéad Nolan, NWC Senior Communications Coordinator, on sineadn@nwci.ie