[Inpatient treatment of mother and child in psychiatry: relevant data of mother and child].

A mentally ill mother may directly increase the probability for the child to develop clinically relevant psychiatric disorders during lifetime. To avoid separation and to support attachment relationships in-patient treatment of mother and child on the psychiatric ward is recommended. The records of 64 cases of (in retrospect) inpatient treatment of mother and child have been categorized and analysed and the relevant data have been evaluated. The results of the evaluation showed that all of these mothers and their children were confronted with numerous difficult living conditions and psychosocial stress in the past and in the present. These findings are similar to and comparable with results from studies of women with postnatal depression.