U.S. states are passing policies to address mental health struggles among new moms, but some states in the Mountain West are falling behind.
Wyoming, for instance, was tied for last place nationwide in a recent report card from the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health.
The Cowboy State got a D-, which is well below the national average of C.
Caitlin Murphy, a research consultant at the policy center, said the state received a low grade because it lacks specialty therapists, screening, treatment options, paid leave and childcare.
“A lot of times mental health gets forgotten because there is so much to address related to maternity care more generally in the U.S.,” Murphy said.
Rural areas in Wyoming, and elsewhere, are struggling to keep hospital delivery units open and keep them staffed with OB-GYNs. The state is making some efforts to address those issues, but Murphy said the mental health component should be addressed separately.
“ It has its own specific barriers,” she said. “It has its own specific training. It has its own specific policies that have real levers that states can take.”
Murphy said one in five moms experience mental health disorders, such as postpartum depression or anxiety, and more than half of those disorders go undiagnosed.
She said states can make a first step toward helping those moms by creating a specific task force, then focusing on increasing the number of psychiatrists and therapists with maternal mental health training.
Having a sufficient number of trained psychiatrists is one area where Wyoming is doing well.
Murphy said states could also follow Colorado and Utah’s lead, which got a C+ and C respectively. They’ve invested in treatment facilities and screening programs.
In other Mountain West states, Arizona received a C, Idaho and New Mexico got a D+, and Nevada was given a D grade.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
