Joy Burkhard, Founder and Executive Director, talks about her motivation behind creating the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health.
Learn about the National Maternal Mental Health Landscape Overview including the Barriers to Screening and Treatment, in this 22 minute video.
Why Policy?
Policy Defined: A rule or plan of action adopted and followed by a group, organization, or government
We are catalyzing change by working with partners to provide an overall direction for maternal mental health by defining a vision, principles, and objectives. We are establishing and supporting the implementation of a broad model of action to achieve this vision.
We promote people-centered maternal mental health policy in healthcare practice settings and the government to lay the foundation and infrastructure to support all mothers in obtaining optimal maternity and maternal mental health care.
In March 2023, 2020 Mom rebranded as the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health. Learn more.
Our Mission
To close gaps in maternal mental health care.
Our Vision
All pregnant and postpartum mothers have ready access to standardized, evidence-based maternal mental health care from providers they respect and trust.
The Problem We Are Here to Solve
Maternal Mental Health disorders, which are the most common complication of pregnancy, impact, on average, up to 1 in 5 of the expecting and postpartum mothers in the U.S., mothers of color suffer at higher rates.
Though awareness of these disorders has increased substantially, screening, diagnosis, and treatment is still not standardized and routine across the U.S. health delivery system. Learn more here.
The Problem We’re Here to Solve Infographic
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Our Theory of Change
2022-2025 Strategic Plan
In the Fall of 2021, the following strategic plan was adopted. The plan hones in on our unique strengths and assets.
What Makes Us Unique
We have expertise in the role healthcare payers (employers and state Medicaid agencies), health insurers, and managed care organizations have in effectuating change in the U.S. health delivery system.
We have a track record for both collaborating with and convening multiple cross-sector stakeholders to advance maternal mental health policy solutions, and for further prioritizing maternal mental health for these partners through legislative change.
Our Strategy
While our first 10 years focused on elevating maternal mental health and the complex barriers, our next 10 years will focus on doubling down on the implementation of solutions.
We looked at our unique strengths and assets, where gaps remain in the field, and how we can line up our strengths to tackle them.
To that end, from 2022-2025, we will focus on three strategies, which we call our “3 As:”
Adequate Screening
Access to Treatment
Ample Insurance Coverage
Our approach will remain the same:
We will continue to place moms at the center of this work, and
Translate complex information into bite-sized and approachable solutions
Our tactics are what we refer to as our 4 Cs:
Critical Content
Communities of Practice
Collaborative Research & Special Projects
Commanding Action
Our 4 Ps describe who we are focused on influencing:
Providers
Partners
Policy Makers
Payors
Our Impact
2022 Annual Report
Our History
Our Brand Story
2020 Mom was founded in 2011 with a mission to close gaps in maternal mental health care, with an aim to lay the foundation for maternal mental health in the U.S. by the year 2020.
In 2021 our logo was updated to include a / to signify vision for the field.
Also in 2021, after 18 months of strategic planning work, a strategic framework was approved which acknowledged our unique position in the field: understanding of the complex U.S. healthcare system.
In 2023, the organization was renamed the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health.
A new brand identity was adopted to clearly define and depict the work we do:
Inform policy including public policy & health delivery policy
Catalyze multiple players to advance change
Our First 10 Years
In our first 10 years, 2020 Mom surveyed and shared the national landscape, identified the complex barriers to care, convened multi-sector change agents, identified best practices, and led substantive state and federal policy work.
We were founded in 2011 as the California Maternal Mental Health Collaborative. After launching the national “2020 Mom Project” (which explained a path forward with easy action steps hospitals, providers and payers could take) and being referred to as the 2020 Mom Project, the Collaborative changed its name to “2020 Mom,” maintaining its focus on multi-stakeholder engagement and policy as a lever for change and laying a path forward for the entire country.
We began this work in 2011 when maternal mental health was simply referred to as “postpartum depression”; when diagnosis and treatment rates were not measured, and the healthcare system was silently failing tens of thousands of mothers and families in the U.S. a year.
Our aim was to shine a light on the problem, change the narrative from calling the range of disorders “postpartum depression” to “Maternal Mental Health Disorders” and identify the barriers and solutions together with multiple stakeholders.