Story by Edwin J. Viera, New York News Connection
New York experts feel more must be done to improve maternal mental health after the pandemic caused nationwide maternal mental health declines.
In New York, poor perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are a leading factor in maternal mortality and increasing attention to the illnesses has not reduced the stigma surrounding them.
Paige Bellenbaum, founding director of The Motherhood Center of New York, said romanticized ideals of the “perfect mother” make it hard for people to talk about their feelings.
“If they are to tell anybody how they are feeling and that they’re struggling with their mental health at a time that is meant to be joyful, blissful, beautiful and amazing, that they will be judged,” Bellenbaum observed. “Or their greatest fear is, ‘If I tell anyone how I’m actually feeling, they might take my baby away."”
The Motherhood Center of New York offers services to ensure birthing people can access care when needed, including access to perinatal therapists and reproductive psychiatrists, along with intervention services. Bellenbaum is also part of New York’s Maternal Mental Health Working Group, which is developing recommendations to improve maternal mental health outcomes. She noted those will be made public by year’s end.
Medications to treat postpartum depression have improved since first being made available in 2019. The first treatment was administered as a continuous infusion over almost three days in a hospital.
Dr. Donna O’Shea, OB/GYN and chief medical officer for population health at UnitedHealthcare, said newer medicines take far less time to be just as effective.
“This year, Zurzuvae is an option that is in pill form that’s taken daily for two weeks and to make a difference in three days,” O’Shea explained. “There are many different treatments and paths a woman can go, depending on the severity of her symptoms.”
She added women should also look to their health insurance to see if there are options for maternal mental health care available, including Employee Assistance Programs, which can be highly beneficial. People should be able to call a listed number to speak with a behavioral health clinician as often as they need when they need it for no additional cost.
