Severe psychiatric disturbances that arise during the postpartum period have serious implications for the optimal development of the mother-infant relationship. The treatment approach of psychiatric admission in the postpartum period raises the issue of whether to admit the mother together with her infant or to separate the two. This article describes the nursing care on a select Psychiatric Mother and Baby Unit in Britain utilizing the nursing process. Implications for inpatient management of postpartum disorders in the United States are presented giving special consideration to the significance of the mother-infant dyad.