Closing the Gap in Maternal Mental Health Care
One in five pregnant and postpartum individuals suffers from mental health disorders, yet half of these cases remain untreated. To bridge this divide, the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health has launched a six-part national community of learning aimed at embedding mental health support directly into routine obstetric care.
The initiative, developed alongside the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM), focuses on implementing the Perinatal Mental Health Conditions Patient Safety Bundle within outpatient clinics. By providing state leaders with tools for quality improvement, payment strategies, and health plan partnerships, the program seeks to transform screening and referral processes into standard practice rather than optional add-ons.
Joy Burkhard, CEO of the Policy Center, emphasized that mental health care must stop functioning as a separate silo from maternity services. The program targets participants currently involved in AIM efforts, which spans 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Through this collaboration, the organizations aim to ensure that clinical workflows effectively catch the 50% of undiagnosed cases currently falling through the cracks of the healthcare system.
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