A fact-finding visit on 9-10 October saw the City and Hackney perinatal team host 12 guests who were interested to see how ELFT services support women with mental health issues before birth and after birth. The City and Hackney Centre for Mental Health houses the East London Mother and Baby Unit which admits mums from across north east London and beyond. The Icelandic health care staff were keen to see the unit which they said gave them inspiration to develop their own. The group also visited maternity services at Homerton University Hospital.
Iceland Model of Care
There are 380,000 people in Iceland with approximately 4000 babies born each year, almost the equivalent to a London borough (In Hackney, 3482 babies were born in 2022.) Currently in Reykjavik, where the main mental health unit is, mothers are admitted to a general mental health ward with their baby and receive one-to-one specialist care from a nurse at all times. Or the father or grandparents may care for the baby at home, and bring the baby to visit its mother.
Mother and Baby Unit
The Icelandic colleagues said viewing the Mother and Baby Unit and talking to psychiatrists, nurses and therapy staff had made them aware of what is possible. Mothers here are admitted with their babies to a bright child-friendly unit with a play area, milk kitchen, conservatory, garden and kitchen. The unit can care for mothers with twins or women with a disability. A new hospital is to open in Iceland and they plan to develop a similar service there.
Thank Yous
Thanking ELFT staff for an interesting two days, they said they could see the team had gone to a lot of trouble to ensure that they had a broad experience and access to a range of healthcare staff which meant that they had learnt a lot.
Fabio de Francescantonio, the Operational Team Lead for the Perinatal Mental Health Team, organised the visit. He said, "It was good to have the opportunity to showcase what we do here and how the service helps mums, babies and the family to recover, adjust and thrive. I am grateful to my colleagues for giving up their time to share what we have learnt as the service has developed, and to hear about the Icelandic model of care."
The unit is of interest to other countries. In December 2022, a group of clinicians from Sweden visited the unit to see how the model of care and the quality of service delivery.