U.S. Government Releases Comprehensive Plan for Improving Maternal Health, Including Mental Health, and Reducing Maternal Death: Cut rates In Half by 2025

December 07, 2020 by Joy Burkhard, MBA in POLICY

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Surgeon General announced on Thursday a coordinated agency plan and Surgeon General call to action to urgently reduce maternal mortality (reduce preventable pregnancy-related & associated deaths) and improve maternal health in the U.S.

The HHS plan is comprehensive and includes a focus on implementing evidence-based measures to reduce maternal mortality by as much as half in five years.

Today is World Mental Health Day. We are Fighting for Change in the U.S.

October 10, 2020 by Joy Burkhard, MBA in POLICY

We are grateful to all of those individuals and national and regional partner organizations who are providing direct service and frantically (now more than ever) trying to meet the need.

At 2020 Mom, our niche is focused on closing maternal mental health gaps in the U.S. health delivery system so moms (and others through the curb-cut effect) will have access to mental health care in the system families, employers, and society are already paying for.

Governor Newsom: Continue to Be a Champion for Families and Mental Health – Sign AB 2360

September 05, 2020 by 2020 Mom in POLICY

Dear California 2020 Mom Community,

The following letter was sent to the governor urging him to sign AB 2360, on Friday, September 4, 2020.

You can urge him to sign the bill too by sending your own request through the governor’s website. It takes two minutes. Learn more here.

Please Sign AB 2360, Telehealth: Mental Health Consultations, “The Mothers and Children Mental Health Support Act of 2020”

CA Mothers and Children Mental Health Support Act of 2020 – Passed Another Hurdle

August 20, 2020 by 2020 Mom in POLICY

California Assembly Bill 2360: Mothers and Children Mental Health Support Act of 2020, offers provider to provider psychiatry consultation and is one of few health care and telehealth bills that has proceeded through the legislative process. This week it passed through a significant hurdle, the senate appropriations process. Now it’s off to the senate floor for a vote.

Below is the latest letter submitted showing support from nearly 50 organizations including the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and more.

Join Us: California Virtual MMH Advocacy Day

July 16, 2020 by 2020 Mom in POLICY

Join 2020 Mom and Maternal Mental Health Now to tell your California Senator that Maternal Mental health matters and ask for their support of AB 2360 on Friday, July 24th. Please find details and sign up information below.

2020 Mom Founder and Executive Director Joy Burkhard to Serve as Expert Advisor for AHRQ Rural Postpartum Mental Health Challenge

May 21, 2020 by 2020 Mom in POLICY, ANNOUNCEMENTS

Washington, DC – In May, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announced that Joy Burkhard, MBA was selected to serve as an expert advisor for their Cross-Sectional Innovation to Improve Rural Postpartum Mental Health Challenge.

The challenge aims to drive both proposal and narrative submissions, allowing the initiative to highlight success stories in rural postpartum mental health and encourage future innovative approaches.

New CDC Report Shows 10-24% of Women Suffered from Maternal Mental Health Disorders in 2018

May 19, 2020 by 2020 Mom in POLICY

A new Center for Disease Control (CDC) study finds that around 1 in 8 women report experiencing symptoms of maternal depression. The analysis, which looked at 2018 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Survey (PRAMS) data from 30 states and Puerto Rico, found that rates of “postpartum depression” symptoms ranged from a little under 10% in Illinois to almost 24% in Mississippi.

Birth and the COVID Crisis – An Appeal to the CA Governor

April 06, 2020 by Joy Burkhard, MBA in POLICY

By Joy Burkhard, MBA

Today, 2020 Mom, along with nearly 25 co-signers, submitted the following letter to the Governor of California and the states Health and Human Services (HHS) agency to address the fears mothers have about giving birth alone, the fear of hospitals having bed shortages and the potential doctor and nursing shortages, and the need for mothers to know their non-hospital birth options. The letter also urges the state to ensure all mothers who screen positive for an MMH disorder have access to treatment.

California COVID Peer Support + MMH Law

March 22, 2020 by Joy Burkhard, MBA in POLICY

Following are two pertinent updates regarding California’s response to the COVID crisis.

1. California’s New Peer Support Service is Available

The state’s newly enacted mental health peer telephone line and web-chat service is available to any California resident experiencing increased levels of anxiety and interested in connecting with a peer.

U.S. has the highest suicide and maternal mortality rates among wealthy nations

February 01, 2020 by Joy Burkhard, MBA in POLICY

The U.S. has the highest suicide rates among wealthy nations, according to a new report that looked at how health and care in the U.S. stacks up globally. In 2016, the suicide rate here was 13.9 suicide deaths per 100,000 people — while the U.K. had the lowest rate of the 11 high-income countries in the report, at 7.3 suicides per 100,000 people.

At the same time, another new report from the Well Being Trust highlights 4% of insurance payments went to mental health care in 2017 and that Americans continue to have to go out of network to find treatment.

President Trump Signs the 2020 Budget, Including an MMH Report

December 04, 2019 by 2020 Mom in POLICY

On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed the Budget bill averting a government shut-down and funding a Maternal Mental Health interagency Task Force. The Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency is tasked with convening a task force 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.

California’s Medicaid Program Now Reimburses Screening and Treatment to Prevent Maternal Depression

August 14, 2019 by Joy Burkhard, MBA in POLICY

In July 2019, the California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) Agency, Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) announced how it would support health plan compliance with the US Preventive Services Task Force assessment of sufficient evidence and recommendation to screen and treat to prevent maternal depression. Read more here.

Other states are likely developing similar positions to provide clarity to Medicaid health plans and screening and treating providers on how services should be billed and covered.

Standing Up for Maternal Health at Mom Congress 2019

May 29, 2019 by S. Nadia Hussain in POLICY

The United States has the worst maternal death rates of any developed country, with Black women dying at 3-4 times the rates of white women, this rate remains unchanged when accounting for income, education and economic status. Maternal death rates for women overall in the U.S. doubled in the past 25 years, meaning that women today have a higher risk of dying at childbirth than their mothers, and the disparities that Black women face have been around for decades. For every maternal death in the country, 70 women face a life-threatening and too often, life-altering complication.

The New USPSTF Recommendation: Prevention of Maternal Depression

February 25, 2019 by joy Burkhard in POLICY

We had the opportunity to pull leaders in the field together to review the draft USPSTF recommendation. To learn what was discussed read more here.

It has now become more well known that maternal mental health disorders are the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth.

In 2017, after the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) overturned its position to recommend screening for maternal depression, the United States Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF) changed its position to now recommend maternal depression screening.
Now, in 2019, the USPSTF released one of the firsts of its kind, a recommendation for a clinical intervention to prevent a potential disorder, not just screen for it retrospectively. The disorder? Maternal depression. The recommendation was published in on the USPSTF website and in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Network.

What Would You Share with Congress?

January 16, 2019 by joy Burkhard in POLICY

This week, I head to Washington DC to meet with members of Congress about maternity care.

I will be joined by several colleagues from non-profit organizations, including leaders from groups like Every Mother Counts, The Preeclampsia Foundation, Improving Birth and March for Moms. With more women ever serving in congress, it’s a particularly exciting time to address women’s health and maternity issues.

We have been asked to share what we believe should be the highest priorities in improving maternity care. This includes maternal mental health.

If I were in position to write two federal laws, this is what I’d write.

Federal Government Awards Seven States Grants to Address Maternal Mental Health

November 04, 2018 by joy Burkhard in POLICY

We’ve had a few surreal moments in maternal mental health this fall, this one is definitely a moment that the maternal mental health community should be jumping up and down about.
In September the federal government’s Health and Human Services Agency (HRSA) announced it has awarded 4.5 million in grants to seven lucky states to address maternal mental health over five years (2018-2023).

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force - Now Focusing on Prevention, Yes!

October 04, 2018 by joy Burkhard in POLICY

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently released a draft recommendation addressing screening women at risk in order to provide counseling as preventive care: Perinatal Depression: Preventive Interventions. You might recall

Maternal Suicide Tracking in the U.S. – We’re Getting Closer

September 09, 2018 by joy Burkhard in POLICY

Today, September 10 is International Suicide Awareness and Prevention Day, and it’s time to talk about maternal suicide including maternal suicide reporting in the U.S.

The United Kingdom last reported that suicide is its #1 cause of maternal mortality. Just three days ago, Japan announced the same.

Advocacy Days Made an Impression on Me

June 06, 2018 by 2020 Mom in POLICY

Washington D.C. has always been a place that draws me. It is a place of action, compromise, debate, activism. Needless to say, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be a part of this year’s Advocacy Days with 2020 Mom. I would like to take a moment to share three aspects of the few days in D.C. that were most impactful and memorable to me.

California's "Unique Approach" to Screening and Obstetric Provider Support – AB 2193

April 03, 2018 by 2020 Mom in POLICY

In one of the latest new articles about AB 2193, in Rewire News, titled "Could a California Bill Be the Key to Addressing Mood Disorders in New Parents?" the writer notes, "The bill takes a somewhat unique approach to this issue, and is one that could become a model for other states."