Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Programs & Impact
  3. Screening and Treatment for Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders (MMHSUD)

Screening and Treatment for Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders (MMHSUD)

We fund the MMHSUD program to help health care providers identify and address mental health concerns of women during and after pregnancy.

How do we support health care providers?

We train them and offer:

  • Real-time mental health consulting and help coordinating care
  • Ways to collaborate with other federally funded programs
  • Partnerships that expand service choices, such as telehealth
  • Resources for creating local referral databases

How does this work improve the public health system for women?

This program:

  • Increases routine behavioral health screening during and after pregnancy
  • Gives them more access to these services close to where they live
  • Considers their cultural background when providing care

Learn about the rest of the programs we fund to address maternal and behavioral health.

Who did we award?

How do we measure impact?

Grantees collect and report their data each year. They track their progress toward increasing the number of:

  • Trained providers
  • Provider trainings that include equity and culturally responsive care
  • Community-based support service providers in the program’s referral database

Why do we fund this work?

For women in the US, mental and behavior health challenges are common concerns during and after pregnancy.

  • Suicide and drug overdose are the leading causes of death during the first year after having a baby.1
  • Depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders affect 1 in 5 women in the U.S.2
  • Postpartum depression and depressive symptoms are more common for Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaskan Native women.3 4

Resources

  • 1Trost SL, Beauregard J, Njie F, et al. Pregnancy-Related Deaths: Data from Maternal Mortality Review Committees in 36 US States, 2017-2019. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Department of Health and Human Services; 2022.
  • 2American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2018 committee opinion. No. 757, Screening for Perinatal Depression. Retrieved 8/2020; Gavin NI, Gaynes BN, Lohr KN, Meltzer-Brody S, Gartlehner G, Swinson T. Perinatal depression: a systematic review of prevalence and incidence. Obstet Gynecol 2005;106:1071–83.; Fawcett EJ, Fairbrother N, Cox ML, White IR, Fawcett JM. The Prevalence of Anxiety Disorders During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period: A Multivariate Bayesian Meta-Analysis. J Clin Psychiatry. 2019;80(4):18r12527. Published 2019 Jul 23. doi:10.4088/JCP.18r12527
  • 3Cannon C, Nasrallah HA: A focus on postpartum depression among African American women: A literature review. Ann Clin Psychiatry. 2019;31:138-143.
  • 4Bauman BL, Ko JY, Cox S, et al. Vital Signs: Postpartum Depressive Symptoms and Provider Discussions About Perinatal Depression — United States, 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:575–581. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6919a2. Retrieved 10/2020.
Date Last Reviewed: