NSW Health WSLHD Safety & Quality Account 2020-21

Child, Adolescent and Family Health

WSLHD acknowledges the wellbeing of children and adolescents lays the foundation for their physical, cognitive, and emotional development, directly influencing their adult health. Family health promotes communication, emotional bonding, and a shared commitment to wellness. Recognising the interconnectedness between children, adolescents and families is the key to a holistic approach to health, as it shapes not only individual lives but also the lives of our communities and broader society.

Westmead Hospital Mother and Baby Unit

In March 2023, the Westmead Mother and Baby Unit opened to provide holistic, multidisciplinary specialist health care that is parent and infant-centred, family and carer inclusive, and culturally sensitive. The aim of the service is to support mothers to remain with their infant during psychiatric care and prevent the effects of separation on the parent-infant relationship.

Photos inside Westmead Mother and Baby Unit

The Westmead Mother and Baby Unit was co-designed with women with lived experience of perinatal mental illness, their families, and clinicians. The service delivers an 8-bed unit with ensuites; therapeutic spaces including loungeroom, dining and kitchen areas; outdoor courtyards; play areas; a 24-hour respite nursery; group spaces; a retreat room and patient consult rooms.

24