Thread by @MarilynHeineMD

🧵@AmerMedicalAssn⁩ wrote to ⁦@RepBarragan⁩ ⁦@RepLBR⁩ ⁦@RepLarryBucshon⁩ ⁦@RepYoungKim⁩ in support of HR 4217, “Taskforce Recommending Improvements for Unaddressed Mental Perinatal & Postpartum Health (TRIUMPH) for New Moms Act of 2021”

#maternalhealth

2/ If passed, the bill would create a task force on maternal #mentalhealth which would identify, evaluate, make recommendations to coordinate & improve federal responses to maternal mental health conditions, create a national strategic plan for addressing mental health disorders.

3/ Part of an ongoing effort to address crisis of #maternalmortality in the US.

Each year ~700 women die during or within a year of their pregnancy d/t pregnancy-related/associated complications despite studies that show >1/2 of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.

4/ Pregnant and postpartum individuals may experience a broad range of #mentalhealth disorders and symptoms, including pregnancy and postpartum depression, general anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychosis and birth-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

5/ #Mentalhealth conditions have been identified as an underlying cause for almost 9% of pregnancy-related deaths according to @CDCgov.

Moreover, Black women, Latina women & low income women are more likely to experience symptoms of depression in pregnancy & postpartum period.

6/ In addition to this human cost, untreated perinatal #mentalhealth conditions that occur during pregnancy and the first five years of a child’s life have been estimated to carry a societal burden of $14 billion per year in the U.S. and this is considered to be an underestimate.

7/ For more information on @AmerMedicalAssn advocacy to improve #maternalhealth, please see: tinyurl.com/b7hwx5xn