Tell me, non judgementally, about mother baby units

[theotherfossilsister]

As my title says, please tell me non judgementally about these units.

Should I fight admission tooth and nail if proposed or go with it? Never been a psychiatric inpatient.

Wow so happy to hear this op your doing amazing!! Hope you get home soon and start a lovely life with your beautiful boy

@theotherfossilsister how are you and your baby doing?

I'm actually really struggling with being out, but everyone keeps saying how well I'm doing. I called the unit on Tuesday in literal tears begging them to readmit us because of my intrusive thoughts, but we were able to talk through it and they told me to hand D's over to dp, take a lorazepam and sleep in a separate room until I felt safe. Big ask for dp to have the full night but he did it. Drugs aren't a long-term solution but at the moment when things are acute they work well.

Psychiatrist and con came out today for a chat. They want dp to start leaving us alone together for short periods, IE going to a cafe nearby for an hour while we're in the flat.

He's taking annual leave now to support us, which I feel bad about but also really need.

In living room now while dp looks after D's.in the bedroom. I love him so I'm terrified of him. Going to take a deep breath and go through soon and be a parent again, Which means holding him until he sleeps then trying to put him down on the sly.

I just wanted to tell you how awesome you are and how far you have come with this.

Please don't fight it, or anything the professionals suggest. They are so

Sorry, butterfingers.

...the professionals are so good at what they do. I could have written every word of your post 3 years ago, from traumatic birth to intrusive thoughts. I didn't get the right support in that pregnancy, but did in my subsequent twin pregnancy, so know the difference MBUs and the right care pathway can make. It's huge.

What was transformative for me was realising how far from alone I was. This is an illness, which comes on like a tonne of bricks, almost always in the ten days after birth. It affects 1 in 1000 women, but my mat unit say they think they should be treating 1 in 100. There is a safe and proven support framework which is there for you.

You will get through this and come to the place where time with your baby feels so safe and loving, in that feedback loop of love that flows down the ages, but like any illness, recovery works better and faster with help x

Sorry, I should also have read updates!

Sounds like you are doing brilliantly OP. It isn't easy to come home, but it will start to feel right with a bit of time. I came to think of OCD basically as an immune disorder of the brain - we're so focused on loving and protecting our babies that it turns back on us. The very best to you ❤

@JennyForeigner I love the idea that it's an autoimmune condition of the mind. That makes so much sense. I love Ds more than anything on earth and worry all the time and my mind flips these worries and presents me as the danger.

@theotherfossilsister do hope things are looking better for you and your baby. We're all rooting for you