When Monique Aulich’s newborn daughter was four weeks old, she knew something was not right.<\/p>\n
Warning: This story contains discussion of suicide.<\/p>\n
“I was struggling with suicidal ideation at home and intrusive thoughts,” she said.<\/p>\n
“They were really distressing. I didn’t know what to do with them, I’d never had them before.”<\/p>\n
Ms Aulich had been speaking to a counsellor, who suggested she go to the Bendigo Health perinatal mental health unit.<\/p>\n
The therapist told her staff there could help with medications quickly.<\/p>\n
“When she first mentioned it, I was terrified. I was imagining straitjackets and being shackled to the bed,” she said.<\/p>\n
But to Ms Aulich’s surprise, the unit was the opposite of that.<\/p>\n
She said it was a calm environment where she could stay with her baby and feel supported.<\/p>\n
“I wasn’t on any medications before so it was waiting for them to kick in,” she said.<\/p>\n
After two weeks, Ms Aulich said she thought she was “good” but going home was a different story.<\/p>\n
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Victoria has regional parent-infant units at Bendigo, Ballarat and Traralgon. (ABC News: Sarah Lawrence)<\/p>\n
“As soon as I got home I thought, ‘I wasn’t allowed a knife half an hour ago but now I’m in a kitchen surrounded by knives,'” she said.<\/p>\n
“It was so jarring. It felt like staff couldn’t trust me in the unit, so how could I trust myself now?”<\/p>\n
After a few days, and with the support of her family, she decided to return to the unit for another fortnight.<\/p>\n
“There was more suicidal ideation going on. The next wave of hormones hit,” she said.<\/p>\n
That was four years ago.<\/p>\n
For the past two and a half years, Ms Aulich has worked as a peer support worker in the parent-infant unit, talking with women going through similar postpartum challenges.<\/p>\n
“I just wanted to talk to someone who has been there and knows just how scary this is. It felt like no-one got it,” she said.<\/p>\n
“There are now people I’ve supported where I feel my story has resonated with them.”<\/p>\n
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Messages of hope from former patients adorn the walls of the Bendigo Health parent-infant unit.\u00a0 (ABC News: Sarah Lawrence)<\/p>\n
Need for more units<\/p>\n
Ms Aulich’s experience is representative of the growing need for parent-infant units across the country.<\/p>\n
Last year, almost 100 parents stayed at Bendigo Health’s five-bed unit, for an average of two weeks.<\/p>\n
The Bendigo Parent-Infant Unit is one of six public units around Victoria.<\/p>\n
“I couldn’t imagine having to travel hours to receive that care, as people would be isolated even further from their main supports,” Ms Aulich said.<\/p>\n
“I also had an 18-month-old son at home, so it would have been hard to be in Melbourne.”<\/p>\n
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