A federal task force has recommended a new national strategy to address the mental health needs of pregnant and postpartum women in the United States. The plan aims to reduce maternal deaths by improving access to mental health care, particularly in underserved areas.
Perinatal depression affects up to 20% of women in the U.S., with some states reporting rates as high as 25%. However, many women go untreated due to the lack of a widely deployed screening system, leading to higher rates of mental illness, suicide, and drug overdoses, which are now the leading causes of death in the first year after giving birth.
“This is a systemic issue, a medical issue, and a human rights issue,” said Lindsay R. Standeven, a perinatal psychiatrist and the clinical and education director of the Johns Hopkins Reproductive Mental Health Center.
Joy Burkhard, a member of the task force and the executive director of the nonprofit Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, emphasized the importance of equitable access to care. The task force recommended that federal officials identify underserved areas, including rural America and urban areas where maternity wards have recently closed, to prioritize the placement of new maternity centers.
The task force will soon determine which portions of the plan will require congressional action and funding to implement and identify “low-hanging fruit” that can be addressed more easily. The goal is to create a comprehensive strategy to support the mental health of mothers across the nation and reduce disparities in maternal care.
See “Federal Panel Prescribes New Mental Health Strategy To Curb Maternal Deaths” (May 16, 2024)
