Closing Gaps in Maternal Mental Healthcare

The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health is a national think tank, nonprofit organization advancing policies that support a health care system that routinely detects and treats maternal mental health disorders for every mother, every time.

LA Policy

HB 784 (2022): Mandates that pediatric providers screen for postpartum depression or related mental health disorders if the provider believes that screening would be in the best interest of the patient. Additionally, the LA Department of Health will identify providers specializing in pregnancy-related and postpartum depression or related mental health disorders and develop network adequacy standards for treating pregnant and postpartum women with depression or related mental health disorders and pregnant and postpartum women with substance use disorders.

HCR 105 (2021): Calls for creating a Maternal Mental Health task force (with an intentional focus on Black and brown women). This task force will identify individual, provider, and system barriers to screening, diagnosis, and treatment and explore evidence-based research for emerging treatment options.

HCR 103 (2021): Promotes evidence-based screening for maternal anxiety and depression by requesting certain state agencies to provide preventive care, early identification, and treatment services.