In 2020, the Rotary Club of Brisbane provided an early grant of $50,000 to the Mater Foundation for the establishment of a specialist perinatal mental health facility at the Mater Hospital in South Brisbane. In Queensland, more than 60,000 babies are born each year, yet there is only one public 4-bed mother and baby perinatal mental health facility in the entire state.
There is an immediate, unmet need in our community to respond to the needs of women—and their partners and children—who experience perinatal mental health issues before and after their baby is born. Statistics show that 1 in 5 mothers and 1 in 10 fathers experience perinatal depression and anxiety. A distrurbingly large number of these will experience very serious health issues and suicide is now the leading cause of maternal death in Australia.
Catherine’s House will change that. With the help of philanthropy and the community, Mater will create a vital service for women who experience perinatal mental health issues.
Mater Family Wellbeing Service will complement and integrate with other Mater Health services across Queensland, including Mater’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit, 24-hour Pregnancy Assessment Centre, Parenting Support Centre and Parent Aide Unit. The new service will be co-located with Mater’s paediatricians, lactation consultants, psychologists, allied health professionals and mental health services, in Catherine’s House. It will be just metres away from Mater Mothers’ Hospital in South Brisbane. Once established, the Mater Family Wellbeing Service will complete Mater’s comprehensive offering to parents and their babies.
With the support of the Rotary Club of Brisbane and other donors, work on Catherine's house started earlier this year, but much more help is needed. To find out how you can help, you can download more information by clicking on the button below.
