Bendigo Health’s Parent Infant Unit (PIU) is a specialised 5 bed inpatient mental health unit supporting parents during pregnancy and throughout their baby’s first year of life. We prioritise families in the Loddon Mallee region but service the whole of Victoria.
What makes our unit unique is that infants stay in hospital alongside their primary carer throughout their admission. This allows parents to receive the mental health care and treatment they need without being separated from their baby, while also providing an opportunity to strengthen the parent-infant relationship during this important stage of development.
Our service is quite niche as we sit between adult mental health and infant care. Fundraising helps us provide additional resources, equipment and experiences that make the unit a more welcoming, therapeutic and family-friendly environment for the parents and babies who stay with us.