St Helen's mother and baby unit saved our life - Emma Helks Story
PLEASE • SIGN • SHARE • DONATE
See Emma's full brave story below on ABC News Tasmania.
The team at the Mother Baby unit at St Helens hospital saved my life and saved my family. Now they are closing, and three beds will be available at the Royal Hobart Hospital. I just finished an interview with the ABC which will hopefully air tonight.
When I was diagnosed with Post Natal Depression in 2021 I was lucky to get one of seven beds (only one of which was for public patients) and seven nursery rooms, for Theo and I to stay together and be cared for whilst I received vital treatment. Treatment that I could not have for had I not been in house, with a team of midwives, medical experts and mental health practitioners.
I would not have slept all night, whilst a nurse gave Theo his bottles, therefore giving me the mental energy to work with a psychologist and psychiatrist. I would not have been able to attend multiple appointments a day to speak to someone who understood what intrusive thoughts were and how to combat them.
I would not have been able to try and change medication until finding one that suited me, in a controlled environment. I would not simply have had anyone to bring me a cup of tea, hold my hand and tell me that Theo was blossoming and I actually believed it because not only were they experts but I got to trust them over the seven weeks we were in there.
With the announcement of St Helens closing in just a few weeks, the government has proposed the ignorant and frankly offensively useless fix of three beds at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
I got the one public bed in St Helens. I was lucky. And I'm thankful. But it wasn't enough then. And the new proposal isn't enough now. The government has relied on private enterprise to pay for and provide the care that they should be the experts at.
They should hire, build and support the very best level of care for every single person
#notmystadium
1 in 3 woman have a traumatic birth. How can they heal from mental trauma in the very building where it was caused. Being kept away from what little support system they have.
1 in 7 women suffer from post natal depression. That means of the 5800 births in Tassie last year, 833 women likely suffered. The new proposal offers 1.3 bed nights at estimated sufferer, or 0.18 bed nights per birth.
Even if someone managed to recognise pnd in themselves, how can they manage appointments on top of a new born, wait for weeks to be seen and then wait even longer to get treatment.
1 in 10 partners of birth givers suffer from post natal depression. There never has been anything in place to help a family stay together through that.
How can a person be treated clinically by protocols, managed by ever changing over worked staff, in a sterile environment, surrounded by illness and disease be expected to heal a wound which needs trust, care, subtlety and humanity.
If you or anyone you know is suffering please get help www.panda.org.au