Your Guide to Mother and Baby Units: Who's Who on the MBU?
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I know first hand that being admitted to a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) can feel overwhelming. Alongside adjusting to a new environment, you may suddenly find yourself meeting a whole team of people from psychiatrists, nurses, psychotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, and many others.
At first, it can feel difficult to remember everyone's name, let alone understand what each person does.
The good news is that you're not expected to.
Every member of the multidisciplinary team has a different role, but they all share the same goal: helping you recover while supporting your relationship with your baby.
This guide explains who you may meet during an admission and how each person contributes to your care.
Why are there so many different people?
It's a question many parents ask during their first few days on a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU).
One of the biggest surprises can be how many different professionals you meet. You may find yourself speaking with psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists, social workers, and other members of the team—sometimes all within the first few days.
In your my words.
“It’s a holistic approach to mental health care. I’m sure I’m glamorising it, I don’t mean to. It’s obviously still a psychiatric hospital... But I truly wish every mother experiencing an acute or severe mental health episode could receive the level of care and compassion and validation and support that I received from that hospital.”
This is called a multidisciplinary team (MDT). Recovering from severe perinatal mental illness often involves more than one type of support. Rather than one clinician providing every aspect of your care, professionals with different expertise work together to support your recovery, your relationship with your baby, and your preparation for life after discharge.
Although you may meet many different staff members during your admission, they communicate regularly and work closely together towards a shared, coordinated treatment plan.
At first, it can feel difficult to remember everyone's name or understand what each person does—and that's completely normal. Let’s take a look at the different members of the multidisciplinary team and how each contributes to your care.
Who's who on the MBU?
Every member of the multidisciplinary team has a different role, but they all work towards the same goal: supporting your recovery and helping you care for your baby.
Understanding who each person is—and how they support your recovery—can make your admission feel a little less overwhelming.
While every MBU is slightly different, these are the professionals you're most likely to meet during your admission.
Medical team.
The medical team oversees the medical aspects of your care, including diagnosis, treatment planning, and medication review. Depending on your needs, you may also meet other medical specialists, such as a paediatrician, who focuses on your baby's health and development.
Psychiatrist
In your words.
“Because of how terrified I was of ECT, [my doctor] came in deliberately at 6AM just to take me to the ECT suite—which was just so lovely because you do it really early in the morning. But he's like, ‘I'm going to come in and take you to that first session.’ I said, ‘oh, you really don't have to do that.’ And he's like, ‘no, I'll do it.’ I was very scared and emotional. But yeah, that was really lovely to have him there.”
A psychiatrist is the doctor responsible for overseeing your mental health care during your admission. They are trained to assess, diagnose, and treat mental illness, including conditions that can occur during pregnancy and after birth.
Your psychiatrist may:
Assess and diagnose mental health conditions
Reviews symptoms and monitor progress
Prescribe and review medication
Discuss treatment options
Coordinate your overall treatment plan
You will usually meet with your psychiatrist regularly throughout your admission, often during ward rounds or scheduled appointments. While they lead your treatment, they also work closely with the rest of the multidisciplinary team to ensure every aspect of your care is considered.
Psychiatry Registrar
A psychiatry registrar is a qualified doctor completing specialist training in psychiatry under the supervision of a consultant psychiatrist. They work closely with the consultant psychiatrist, and important treatment decisions are made together.
Registrars are often closely involved in your day-to-day care and meet with you more frequently than the consultant psychiatrist.
Your psychiatry registrar may:
Meet with you regularly
Review how you’re responding to treatment
Answer questions about your care
Work closely with the consultant psychiatrist
Discuss your progress with the multidisciplinary team
Although they are completing specialist training in psychiatry, registrars are experienced doctors who play an important role in your care.
It's completely normal to meet both a psychiatrist and a psychiatry registrar during your admission.
Nursing team.
Nurses play a central role in your care throughout your admission. Alongside supporting your mental health and providing day-to-day care on the ward, the nursing team includes leadership and specialist roles that contribute different expertise to your care.
Depending on the MBU, you may meet a Mental Health Nurse, Nurse Unit Manager (NUM), and Child and Family Health Nurse. Although each role is different, they work closely together to support both you and your baby.
Mental Health Nurse
In your words.
“One of the nurses sat with me, and she said, ‘just let it out. Just cry with me. I'll sit with you.’”
“I'd had so many people for so many weeks now telling me, ‘try this’ and ‘sleep with this’—and obviously nothing wrong with that—but she just said, ‘I'm just gonna sit with you and please just let it out.’”
“It was the turning point, I think.”
Mental health nurses are often the people you’ll spend the most time with during your admission. Available 24 hours a day, they are usually your main point of contact on the ward.
Mental health nurses may:
Check in on your mental health
Administer and support medication management
Conduct observations and risk assessments
Help you through difficult moments and provide emotional support
Support you in caring for your baby
Share observations with the multidisciplinary team
Nurse Unit Manager (NUM)
The Nurse Unit Manager (NUM) leads the nursing team and oversees the day-to-day operation of the Mother and Baby Unit. While you may not see the NUM as often as your bedside nurses, they may become involved if you have questions or concerns about your care or if additional support is needed during your admission.
Child and Family Health Nurse
A Child and Family Health Nurse (sometimes called a Mothercraft Nurse) specialises in supporting babies and infants while helping parents build confidence in caring for their baby. Not every Mother and Baby Unit has a Child and Family Health Nurse, but where available, they provide additional support as you adjust to parenting during recovery.
Child and Family Health Nurses may help with:
Feeding
Sleep and settling
Infant development
Responsive parenting
Building confidence in caring for your baby
Depending on your MBU, you may also receive support from a midwife or lactation consultant for pregnancy, postnatal, or breastfeeding-related concerns.
Therapy and support team.
Alongside doctors and nurses, you may also meet members of the therapy and support team.
In your words.
“One of the lovely therapists—among the many things that I enjoyed in her sessions—she brought up some other skills from DBT and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). And that made me feel like I had more control over how my recovery might play out, that I could look into different forms of therapy.”
These professionals support different aspects of recovery, from psychoeducation and coping strategies, to rebuilding confidence, strengthening the parent-infant relationship, and preparing for life after discharge.
Depending on your needs, they may see you individually, work with you in groups, facilitate programs such as Circle of Security, or work alongside the rest of the multidisciplinary team to support your care.
Psychologist or Psychotherapist
Many MBUs include a psychologist or psychotherapist as part of the multidisciplinary team to support emotional and psychological aspects of recovery. Their role is to help you understand your experiences, develop coping strategies, and support your wellbeing during admission.
Depending on your MBU, they may:
Facilitate group therapy or psychoeducation sessions
Teach coping and emotional regulation strategies
Provide supportive counselling
Offer individual therapy where appropriate
Occupational Therapist (OT)
Occupational therapists help you rebuild confidence and independence in everyday life. Their focus is on helping you shape the activities, routines, and roles that are meaningful to you.
In your words.
“There was this hilarious... She was a family health nurse, but she also did all the cooking. She had a good cooking background, and she was just so funny. And I remember her spirit just lighting up the room—that's what I needed.”
An occupational therapist may help with:
Establishing daily routines
Parenting confidence
Sensory regulation
Meaningful activities
Fatigue management
Planning for discharge
Social Worker
Social workers support the practical, family, and social aspects of recovery, helping you connect with services you and your family may need during and after admission.
An social worker may help with:
Family support
Financial concerns
Housing or community services
Discharge planning
Child protection or family safety (when needed)
Other health professionals you may meet.
Not every Mother and Baby Unit includes the same team members. Depending on your needs and your local service, you may also meet:
In your words.
“MBU was amazing. I have not seen a more wonderful team working together—caring, compassionate, but also knowing their stuff and knowing what you need.”
Dietitian — provides support with nutrition, appetite, eating difficulties, or specific dietary needs during recovery.
Pharmacist — offers specialist advice about your medications, including side effects, breastfeeding, and medication safety. This can also answer questions you may have about your treatment.
Physiotherapist or Exercise Physiologist — supports physical recovery and wellbeing through safe, gentle movement and exercise. This may include managing pain, improving mobility, rebuilding strength and confidence, or supporting recovery after pregnancy and birth.
Art Therapist — uses creative activities to support emotional expression, self-reflection, and recovery.
Music Therapist — uses music to support emotional wellbeing, relaxation, and self-expression. Sessions may also encourage playful connection between you and your baby through singing, nursery rhymes, and shared musical experiences.
Yoga, Mindfulness, or Infant Massage Facilitators — may lead therapeutic programs that support relaxation, confidence, and bonding with your baby.
Every Mother and Baby Unit is different. While this guide covers the professionals you’re most likely to meet, not every hospital offers the same services, and your local MBU may have additional specialist roles or therapeutic programs.
Support beyond clinical care.
Not every person you meet on an MBU is there to diagnose or treat you. Some are there to support you as a person.
Peer Support Worker
A peer support worker is someone with lived experience of perinatal mental health challenges or recovery who uses that experience to support others.
Unlike other members of the team, peer support workers do not provide clinical care. Instead, they offer understanding, encouragement, and connection based on shared experience. For many parents, meeting someone who understands parts of what they have been through can be a powerful reminder that recovery is possible.
Pastoral Care Worker or Chaplain
A pastoral care worker (sometimes referred to a pastoral support worker, spiritual care practitioner, chaplain, or interfaith chaplain depending on the hospital) provides emotional, spiritual, cultural, or existential support during difficult times.
Pastoral care is available to everyone, not only people who are religious. Whether you're exploring questions about meaning, identity, loss, hope, or grief, they provide a listening ear and a safe, respectful space to talk without judgement and in a way that respects your own beliefs, values, and worldview.
Although meeting so many professionals can feel overwhelming at first, each person plays a different role in supporting your recovery. You are not expected to understand every role immediately—your team is there to answer questions and help you understand how each person fits into your care.
In your my words.
“I was at that MBU for four and a half weeks, and truthfully I was more scared to be discharged than I was to be admitted. I walked through those doors feeling like a failure as a mum, as a woman, as a person—thinking I was beyond help and even undeserving of help. But there were such incredible people who helped me believe otherwise.”
“They really just thought of everything. They explained everything, they reassured me, they talked me through my concerns, and took things slowly at my own pace. Believe me though, letting go and putting your health, your life, in the hands of someone else, is probably one of the hardest decisions you can make… but accepting my situation and where I was, trusting these psychiatrists were actually wanting to help me, and wouldn’t stop helping me until they got it right, and also starting to see the humanity in myself and the other mothers—that made all the difference.”
You don't need to remember everyone
Remember…
You don’t have to navigate your recovery alone. Every member of the team is there to support you and your baby.
During your admission, you may meet many different staff members. You aren't expected to remember everyone's name or role straight away, and it’s completely okay to ask someone to introduce themselves again or explain how they are involved in your care.
Every member of the team brings different expertise, but they all share the same goal: supporting you and your baby throughout your recovery.
This blog is informed by lived experience and is not intended as medical advice.
If you or someone you know needs support, Perinatal Stories Australia encourages you to reach out to Lifeline (13 11 14), 13YARN (13 19 76), or Suicide Callback Service (1300 659 467).
