Nia’s story

In May 2019 I gave birth to my son. Prior to birth I was under the perinatal care team due to me having Bipolar Disorder. A plan was in place as I was high risk for mental health complications.

My pregnancy went well and I felt confident that everything would go well. Towards the end of the pregnancy I had some complications gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia which resulted in me having to stay in the maternity ward.

I had an elective cesarean due to being on lithium medication. After my son was born his temperature dropped and he wasn’t feeding, so he was taken to special care.

I thought I was coping with this, but because the staff who knew me were off and my care plan wasn’t followed, I became very unwell.

I became catatonic and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in Manchester.

I eventually got better with courses of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) and was able to go on the Mother and Baby unit with my son. I made a good recovery and, with gradual home visits and stays, I was eventually discharged in October 2019.

After time to recover I felt that there should be a Mother and Baby Unit for North Wales because there only one in Wales, in South Wales. I led a petition to the Senedd in 2022 which received almost 8000 signatures.