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Admitting Mentally Ill Mothers with their Babies into Psychiatric Hospitals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

R. Kumar ,
E. S. Meltzer ,
Rosalind Hepplewhite  and
A. D. Stevenson
R. Kumar
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry and Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospitals, London
E. S. Meltzer
Affiliation:
Warley Hospital, Brentwood, Essex, Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospitals
Rosalind Hepplewhite
Affiliation:
Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospitals
A. D. Stevenson
Affiliation:
BUPA Hospitals Ltd., London, Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospitals
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The clinical management of a mother who has a severe puerperal mental disorder is complicated by the fact that her baby is not ill and does not need to be in hospital—especially a psychiatric one. On the other hand, separating babies from their mothers can have adverse effects upon their relationship and upon the psychological development of the infant, although much depends upon the timing, nature and duration of the separation as well as on the quality and stability of the family background.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of the Royal College of Psychiatrists , Volume 10 , Issue 7 , July 1986 , pp. 169 - 172
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1986 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

References

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