Mother and baby unit admissions: feasibility study examining child outcomes 4-6 years on.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the cognitive, social cognitive, behavioural, emotional and attachment security outcomes of children whose mothers were admitted to a psychiatric mother and baby unit (MBU) with those of offspring of mothers not admitted and with standardized norms.


METHODS
Children aged 4-6 years of mothers admitted (following childbirth) to the dedicated psychiatric MBUs in Manchester, and still living with their mother, were traced for recruitment. Observational and multi-informant measures of developmental functioning were administered during a home visit.


RESULTS
From 94 consecutive admissions, 16 children participated and showed no poorer developmental outcomes than comparison children or standardized child norms. Girls, securely attached children and children of mothers with no current mental illness tended to show the most positive outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
Possible reasons for low participant recruitment are discussed. Our provisional findings suggest that interventions should focus on improving infant attachment security, targeted at women with psychotic and chronic illness, who have no partner and/or who have a male child.
Wan
Ming Wai
MW
Centre for Women's Mental Health Research, Division of Psychiatry, Williamson Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. m.w.wan@manchester.ac.uk
Warburton
Alison L
AL
Appleby
Louis
L
Abel
Kathryn M
KM
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009769:Object Attachment; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires