[Mother-baby units in Germany. A report on the status quo]

Due to the high incidence of postpartum mental illness [postpartum depression (PPD): 10-15%], joint mother-baby treatment is the state-of-the-art, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries. The joint treatment furthermore allows the unique possibility of primary prevention for the high risk group, the children of the postpartum affected mothers, to be used. Compared to other European countries the development of German mother-baby units (MBUs) is delayed due to the higher uncovered costs of treatment, which result from treatment of the mother-baby relationship and the instructions in baby care for the mother. The committee "Qualitätssicherung in der Mutter-Kind-Behandlung" of the German section of the international Marcé-Society contacted all 470 psychiatric institutions in Germany with the goal of achieving an overview concerning the MBUs. A total of 173 institutions answered of which 83 gave an affirmative answer as far as mother-child treatment is concerned. All in all 157 treatment possibilities (134 inpatient and 24 day clinic) were recorded. From the number of treatment possibilities in England and assuming that all MBUs in Germany were recorded, only 21% of the necessary mother-child therapy places are covered.