(New York Times) – In specialized wards called mother-and-baby units, doctors treat postpartum psychosis while allowing women to keep caring for their children.

A few hours later, Mr. Hardie was driving his wife and infant daughter to a specialized psychiatric ward, where Ms. Hardie would remain for nearly six months as a team of psychiatrists, nurses, therapists and social workers treated her for postpartum psychosis, a psychiatric disorder that can cause hallucinations and delusional thoughts, often centered on a woman’s child. This rare condition is thought to be caused by a combination of genetics, sleep deprivation and biological changes after childbirth.

But the center, a type of facility known as a mother-and-baby unit, also did something that no psychiatric wards in the United States would do: It allowed Ms. Hardie, who had experienced thoughts of wanting to drown her newborn, to keep caring for her baby as she received treatment, under careful supervision. (Read More)