Webinar — Congressional Briefing: Moms In Crisis
How the Pandemic & Formula Shortage Fed the Maternal Mental Health Crisis
Wednesday, June 8, 2022 – Learn about the pandemic-driven rise in maternal mental health conditions, the effects of the infant formula crisis on moms' mental health, and federal approaches to reduce mortality through systematic change, prevention, intervention and treatment at every level.
Senate HELP Hearing Includes the TRIUMPH Act
Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) brought attention to the TRIUMPH for New Moms Act during the March 23, 2022, Senate HELP hearing.
House Energy & Commerce Hearing Addresses the TRIUMPH Act
Representative Larry Bucshon (R-IN-8) highlighted the importance of maternal mental health disorders and the TRIUMPH for New Moms Act that he is co-leading with Rep. Nannette Diaz Barragán (D-CA-44) during the April 5, 2022, House Energy and Commerce Hearing. During the conversation, Reps. Doris O. Matsui (D-CA-6) and Bucshon uplifted maternal mental health, and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Administrator Carole Johnson consistently talked about Maternal Mental Health.
2020 Mom's 2020 Federal Policy Efforts
Supported Policy:
The Federal Military Moms’ Mental Health Assessment Act
December 2020:
The Military Moms Mental Health Assessment Act was passed through the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021!
In May 2020 a new federal law was introduced calling for the study of maternal mental health in military families. Learn more here and read the bill below.
Hosted/Supported Congressional Briefings:
Motherhood on the Brink:
COVID’S CAREGIVING CRISIS & MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH
Virtual Congressional Briefing
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Webinar link
Webinar slides link
Mathematica Policy Research article link
Mothers’ Preferences for COVID and Post-COVID Child Care Background and Policy Proposals article link
Learn more about this and other Mom Congress events here.
Shades of Blue Project Virtual Congressional Briefing
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Webinar link
Topic: Bridging the Gaps in Maternal Mental Health for Black Mothers
In Coordination With: Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust and Black Maternal Health Caucus
Sponsored By: 2020 Mom
Hosted By: Shades of Blue Project
Co-Hosted By: Black Mamas Matter Alliance, 2020 Mom, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the American Psychological Association
Briefing Description: Statistics show that Black women in the U.S. are 3x – 5x as likely to die from a pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts. Missing from the equation is how these same women experience a maternal mental health complication after their adverse maternal outcome. This briefing will explore the perspectives/experiences of Black women to reduce these adverse mental health outcomes.
Prior 2020 Mom Sponsored Policy:
Maternal Mental Health Interagency Task Force Funded!
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed the Budget bill averting a government shut-down and funding a report on gaps in maternal mental health through an interagency collaboration. The Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency is tasked with convening a working group of various federal agencies including:
The Office of Women's Health,
The Surgeon General,
The Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal Child Health Bureau (HRSA), and the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and more.
The Task Force will detail the roles each organization can take to address maternal mental health in a report issued to Congress in June 2020. 2020 Mom will share the report with our network at that time.
This is Game Changing
We believe this is landmark policy, just like no one health care provider type has been accountable for screening, diagnosis and treatment, no single Federal agency has been responsible. This has caused women to fall through the cracks of our healthcare system and maternal mental health has been an issue that is hiding in the floor cracks. Now, agencies will receive direction from HHS that maternal mental health requires coordination and that it should be prioritized.
Over 50 federal and state organizations — signed on to our letter to Congress requesting the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to report on activities addressing maternal mental health.
The letter specifically encouraged the Senate to join the House in requesting HHS to prepare a report on the role that each agency within HHS plays in addressing gaps in maternal mental health for new and expectant mothers.
21st Century Cures Act – a Victory for the Fight against Maternal Depression
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
In December of 2016, maternal mental health advocates celebrated the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act which included support for identification and treatment of maternal depression. The 21st Century Cures Act adopted language from Bringing Postpartum Depression Out of the Shadows Act of 2015.
The Act is 996 pages long and contains many other mental health provisions in addition to addressing maternal depression. Highlights include measures to strengthen equal insurance coverage for mental and physical health, programs to support early intervention for psychosis, and funding to address the opioid epidemic. This act also includes additional provisions not related to mental health, such as NIH funding to support precision medicine, FDA funding to expedite the availability of new treatments, and increased loan repayments for research scientists.
Read more in our blog.