Gov. Kathy Hochul will soon consider a bill that would require the state commissioner of health to develop guidance to incorporate maternal depression screenings into routine care. It comes as New York is experiencing a maternal and infant mortality crisis.

Mental health is a leading cause of maternal deaths contributing to that crisis, and the hope is that by framing what adequate treatment should look like, more women will feel comfortable getting the help that they need.

Paige Bellenbaum is now the founding director of the Motherhood Center, but 18 years ago she was a new mom. She described struggling with severe postpartum depression, and before seeking treatment grappled with the stigma that has historically contributed to preventing women from getting help.

“I was so ashamed, I was so scared, I didn’t want anyone to know how terrible I was feeling,” she said.

Stigma is a significant issue for mothers and expecting mothers experiencing mental health challenges, and she explained that only recently has space been made for what she calls the “both/and” of motherhood.

The idea that the “romanticized” version of motherhood often portrayed by society is masking a far more complicated reality.

“I can look at my baby and think that he or she is the cutest thing I’ve seen and also think I’ve made a huge mistake all in the same breath, and that doesn’t make me a bad mom, it makes me a human being,” she said.

The bill, which passed in the state Senate and Assembly this session, would seek to not only continue whittling away at that stigma, but would create a framework for how maternal depression should be treated in New York. It builds on work that Bellenbaum recalls doing with state Sen. Liz Kreuger in 2014 to draft and pass legislation mandating hospitals to provide education on maternal mental health while strongly encouraging screening of all new and expecting mothers. She says this is the next step. 

“This bill clearly articulates when to screen, how often to screen for these mental health illnesses, screening for substance use” she said.

It comes as state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli released an audit this month saying New York needs to do more to address maternal deaths in the state, with Black women dying at four times the rate of white women.

The maternal and infant mortality crisis and the associated racial disparities are issues the bill’s sponsor Assemblymember Michaelle Solages told Spectrum News 1 she is determined to tackle.

“I cannot hear another story of another mother dying in New York state,” she said.

That’s why she stressed the bill not only outlines care for mothers while they are pregnant, but crucially, after birth as well.

“They’re juggling a job, childcare, family life, and so we need to make sure we’re providing care for the continum, from conception but all the way not just one year, but multiple years postpartum,” she said.

Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn is a new mother to a healthy baby boy, but told Spectrum News 1 she previously lost a son in 2016 after being turned away from a hospital in a high-risk situation. In addition to sponsoring now-signed legislation in 2020 that established requirements for treatment when a mother travels to a hospital with concerns about being in pre-term labor, she is putting her support behind this bill as well.

"We're facing a maternal healthcare crisis, and need action now before more moms and their babies die from preventable causes at disturbing rates,” she said. “We know that about one in four maternal deaths are attributed to mental health issues, and we must prioritize and make mental healthcare solutions available to all mothers.”

Also critical, Bellenbaum emphasized, is conducting screenings in a way that ensures mothers feel safe discussing these issues truthfully, as well as language in the bill that encourages reimbursing providers to incentivize care.

“No matter how much we screen, or how much education we provide on maternal mental health, unless treatment is affordable, people will not be able to access it,” she said.