While the primary rationale for combined mother-baby
units has been to promote healthy maternal-child relationships
and minimize disruption in breastfeeding, several
other clinical and practical benefits are apparent. An important
advantage is the ability for clinicians to directly
observe interactions between mothers and infants so areas
of difficulty can be addressed via supportive guidance and
modeling of appropriate infant care. This is particularly
useful for some women, for whom the presence of the
baby prompts manifestation of clinical symptoms (e.g.
heightened anxiety or obsessive thoughts). Mother-baby
units can help to minimize the potential for severelydepressed mothers to avoid their infants, and gives highly
anxious mothers the opportunity to gain experience allowing
others to care for the infant. Another benefit of
these specialized units is the opportunity for women to
interact with a group of other patients confronting similar
concerns. The social support and normalization inherent
in this setting can be tremendously helpful to perinatal
patients, many of whom feel ashamed, guilty, and reticent
to admit to their distress. Finally, on a practical level,
mother-baby units allow mothers, who are frequently primary
caretakers of infants, to maintain this family role
rather than assign it to another family member