Facts About Maternal Mental Health
and Substance Use Disorder

Maternal Mental Health Stats:

  • Less than 15% of women diagnosed with a maternal mental health disorder receive treatment. With increased demand and barriers to mental health care because of the pandemic, even fewer moms received treatment.1,2,3
  • 1 in 5 women on average suffer from maternal mental health disorders. Roughly 1 in 5 women are not asked about depression during prenatal visits despite universal screening being recommended4
  • 1 in 5 women on average suffer from maternal mental health disorders. Up to 50% of women living in poverty will suffer from a maternal mental health disorder.5,6
  • 1 in 5 women on average suffer from maternal mental health disorders. #MaternalMentalHealth disorders like postpartum depression are the #1 complication of childbirth.7
  • 1 in 5 women on average suffer from maternal mental health disorders. 34% of new mothers report experiencing a traumatic childbirth.8
  • 1 in 5 women on average suffer from maternal mental health disorders. Women in their childbearing years account for the largest group with depression in the U.S.9
  • 1 in 5 women on average suffer from maternal mental health disorders. #MaternalMentalHealth disorders are much more than the baby blues and consist of a range of mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, OCD and PTSD.10
  • 1 in 5 women on average suffer from maternal mental health disorders. Up to fifteen percent (15%) of women will develop anxiety during pregnancy or after childbirth.11
  • 1 in 5 women on average suffer from maternal mental health disorders. 70-100% of women (and their partners) have “intrusive” thoughts surrounding childbirth/the postpartum period.12
  • 1 in 5 women on average suffer from maternal mental health disorders. Asian women are nearly 9 times as likely to report thoughts about suicide compared to white women in the immediate postpartum period.13

Maternal Substance Use Stats:

  • Between 2000 and 2014, there was a 26 percent overall increase in maternal mortality across the United States, particularly due to a rise in substance misuse and subsequent overdose among pregnant and postpartum people.14
  • From 2007 to 2016, 7 percent of mothers who gave birth in hospitals had a Substance Use Disorder (SUD) diagnosis.15
  • Women are most at risk of developing a SUD during their reproductive years (18–44 years) and as a result, pregnant people or people who may become pregnant are especially vulnerable to SUD.16
  • Prior research has estimated that Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome affects 6-8 per 1,000 hospital births, with an estimated overall hospitalization cost of $572 million per year, while Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are estimated to affect as many as 11-50 per 1,000 children in the United States, with an estimated total lifetime cost of $2 million per affected individual.17
  • Among women with substance use and co-occurring mental disorders, diagnosis of posttraumatic stress and other anxiety disorders, postpartum depression and other mood disorders, and eating disorders are more prevalent than among men who are in treatment for substance use disorders.18
  • For women, anxiety disorders and major depression are positively associated with substance use, abuse, and dependence and are the most common co-occurring diagnoses.19 Other common mental disorders in women with substance use disorders are eating disorders and PTSD, a common sequel to violence and trauma.20
  • For many women with co-occuring mental health and substance use, the onset of the mental illness precedes substance use, particularly in cases of PTSD.21
  • A high proportion of women with substance use disorders have histories of trauma, often perpetrated by persons they both knew and trusted.22
  • One study reveals that women with PTSD were five times more likely than women without PTSD to have substance use disorders.23

  • Parental alcohol use increases the prevalence of alcohol use disorders among women by at least 50 percent. Substance use is not as prevalent among women as it is among men, but women are as likely as men to develop substance use disorders after initiation. Women are most at risk of developing a SUD during their reproductive years (18–44 years) and as a result, pregnant people or people who may become pregnant are especially vulnerable to SUD.24

  • The lifetime prevalence rates of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and drug use disorders in women are 19.5% and 7.1%, respectively. Women are at their highest risk of developing a substance use disorder between ages 18 to 29 years old and are at increased risk throughout their reproductive years (18 to 44)25

General Facts From the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics:

  • If alcohol and tobacco are included, 165 million or 60.2% or of Americans aged 12 years or older currently abuse drugs (i.e., used within the last 30 days).
  • 139.8 million Americans 12 and over drink alcohol.
  • 14.8 million or 10.6% of them have an alcohol use disorder.
  • 58.8 million people use tobacco.31.9 million use illegal drugs.
  • 8.1 million of 25.4% of illegal drug users have a drug disorder.
  • 2 million people or 24.7% of those with drug disorders have an opioid disorder; this includes prescription pain relievers or “painkillers” and heroin).

Maternal Opioid Use Disorder

1 California Task Force on the Status of Maternal Mental Health Care. (2017, April). California’s Strategic Plan: A catalyst for shifting statewide systems to improve care across California and beyond [White Paper]. Retrieved from 2020 Mom: https://www.2020mom.org/s/Report-CATaskForce-718.pdf
2 Davenport, M. et al. Moms are Not OK: COVID-19 and Maternal Mental Health. Frontiers in Global Womens’ Health, 19 June 2020.
3 COVID-19 disrupting mental health services in most countries, who survey. (2020, October 5). Retrieved April 09, 2021, from https://www.who.int/news/item/05-10-2020-covid-19-disrupting-mental-health-services-in-most-countries-who-survey
4 https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/vital-signs/identifying-maternal-depression/index.html
5 Dolbier CL, et al. Relationships of race and socioeconomic status to postpartum depressive symptoms in rural African American and non-Hispanic white women. Matern Child Health J. 2013;17(7):1277-87.
6 Chung EK, et al. Maternal depressive symptoms and infant health practices among low-income women. Pediatrics. 2004;113(6):e523-e9.
7 Gavin NI, Gaynes BN, Lohr KN, Meltzer-Brody S, Gartlehner G, Swinson T. Perinatal depression: a systematic review of prevalence and incidence. Obstet Gynecol 2005;106:1071–83.
8 Beck, C., Driscoll, J., & Watson, S. (2013). Traumatic Childbirth. New York, NY: Routledge
9 Weissman MM, Olfson M. Depression in women: implications for health care research. Science. 1995;269(5225):799–801.
10 California Task Force on the Status of Maternal Mental Health Care. (2017, April). California’s Strategic Plan: A catalyst for shifting statewide systems to improve care across California and beyond [White Paper]. Retrieved March 29, 2021 from 2020 Mom: https://www.2020mom.org/s/Report-CATaskForce-718.pdf
11 Fairbrother N, Janssen P, Antony MM, Tucker E, Young AH. Perinatal anxiety disorder prevalence and incidence. J Affect Disord. August 2016;200:148-55. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2015.12.082.
12 Collardeau, F., Corbyn, B., Abramowitz, J. et al. Maternal unwanted and intrusive thoughts of infant-related harm, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression in the perinatal period: study protocol. BMC Psychiatry 19, 94 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2067-x
13 Tabb, K. M., Hsieh, W.-J., Gavin, A. R., Eigbike, M., Faisal-Cury, A., Hajaraih, S. K. M., Huang, W.-hao D., Laurent, H., Carter, D., Nidey, N., Ryckman, K., & Zivin, K. (2020, September 24). Racial differences in Immediate postpartum depression and suicidal IDEATION among women in a MIDWESTERN delivery hospital. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666915320300081
14 Kimberly Mangla, M. Camille Hoffman, Caroline Trumpff, Sinclaire O’Grady, and Catherine Monk. “Maternal Self-Harm Deaths: An Unrecognized and Preventable Outcome,” American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, October 1, 2019, DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2019.02.056
15 Marian Jarlenski and Elizabeth E. Krans. “Co-occurring Substance Use Disorders Identified Among Delivery Hospitalizations in the United States,” Journal of Addiction Medicine, December 1, 2020, DOI: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000792
16 Ariadna Forray. “Substance use during pregnancy.” F1000Research, May 13, 2016, DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.7645.1
17 https://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/press-announcements/20220203/grants-pregnant-women
18 SAMHSA, TIP 51
19 Agrawal et al. 2005
20 SAMHSA, TIP 5
21 Brady and Randall, 1999
22 SAMHSA, TIP 51
23 Brady et al. 2000
24 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2018
25 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK542330/
26 Sarah C. Haight, Jean Y. Ko, Van T. Tong, Michele K. Bohm, and William M. Callaghan. “Opioid Use Disorder Documented at Delivery Hospitalization: United States, 1999–2014,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, August, 10, 2018, DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6731a1

The literature review to derive these facts occurred in April, 2022.