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Woman's Hospital new perinatal mental health unit first of its kind in state
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BATON ROUGE - Woman's Hospital is cutting the ribbon on the first inpatient unit of its kind in Louisiana: a unit designed to help women with their mental health during and after their pregnancy.
"We are really moving into an era of de-stigmatizing all mental health but specifically postpartum. You are not failing as a mother, you are just going through a difficult time," Chief Nursing Officer Cheri Johnson said.
The hospital is opening its perinatal mental health unit Tuesday morning.
The CDC says mental health can be an issue for one in eight women as they struggle with pre- and post-partum depression. The perinatal unit is designed to help those women through their mental health issues.
"It was designed with maternal mental health in mind. It is a place where patients are able to come and get the care they need and not get shipped away to another facility and the facility is not able to address the special needs this patient population needs," the Director of Inpatient Psychiatry Kelly Cannon said.
The unit can provide treatment for up to ten women at a time and is for pre and post-natal women with severe depression and anxiety.
While in care, women are allowed to spend time with their infants, attend group sessions, take part in garden therapy on the outdoor terrace and more.
"For many of these patients, they don't have a place to go where they can get the care they need and so Woman's Hospital is really stepping up to fill that gap and care," Cannon said.
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