Perinatal mental health or substance use disorders affect one in five mothers and are one of the most common pregnancy complications. Despite routine contact with medical settings, most pregnant and postpartum women with mental health or substance use disorders go unrecognized, undiagnosed, and untreated. Lack of treatment can lead to devastating effects on women, infants, and families. Maternal suicide exceeds hemorrhage and hypertensive disorders as a cause of maternal mortality. Obstetric, pediatric, primary care, and psychiatry providers are challenged by multi-level barriers to providing needed mental health care for these women. Addressing these barriers systemically requires a practical and sustainable platform that builds the capacity of health care systems, states, and countries, to address depression and other psychiatric illness in the perinatal period.
women will experience a mental health or substance use disorder in pregnancy or postpartum
of postpartum deaths in depressed women are caused by maternal suicide
of women who screen positive for depression receive no treatment
Build the capacity of front line medical providers and other professionals to promote the mental health of pregnant and postpartum women. Our team has developed scalable programs that have increased access to care for thousands of women. We developed MCPAP for Moms, a first in nation, state-wide program to address maternal mental health and substance use. Regional teams provide assessment and treatment support, face-to-face consultation, and resource provision/referrals to help providers and practices help women get the help they need and deserve. Regional teams provide assessment and treatment support, face-to-face consultation, and resource provision/referrals to help practices address mental health and substance use. Since its launch in July 2014, MCPAP for Moms has served over 3,000 patients across 120 obstetric practices and received prestigious national service awards from the American Psychiatric Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Academy of Pediatrics, Center for Medicaid Services, and American Medical Association all recommend screening for depression in pregnancy and postpartum. Both also recognize that screening alone is insufficient to improve outcomes and so must be paired with adequate systems for appropriate follow-up and treatment. Obstetric, pediatric, primary care, and psychiatry providers are challenged by multi-level barriers to providing needed mental health care for these women. The Lifeline4Moms Team has developed and implemented MCPAP for Moms, a practical and sustainable platform that builds the capacity of clinicians to address mental health and substance use disorders among pregnant and postpartum women.
