Treatment Updates
A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association
In February of 2025 the Journal of the American Heart Association published a scientific statement redefining maternal cardiovascular health to include psychological health, citing strong evidence of the relationship between psychological health and cardiovascular outcomes. The statement provides guidance for the integration of strategies to target psychological health within maternal cardiovascular care during the perinatal period, including pathways for creating care delivery models that utilize both behavioral and pharmacological treatment approaches.
The First Year Focus Program
A new pilot program has launched from the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society targeting maternal mental health. First Year Focus will deploy registered nurses to provide flexible, responsive care for Navy and Marine Corps families throughout pregnancy and after birth. Military spouses face an increased risk of mental health challenge through the peripartum period, and active duty service members are two to three times as likely to face mental health challenges than civilians. Similar to the role CMHA’s play on the MOMS Partnership team, First Year Focus staff will provide psycheducation on the signs and symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders, and will connect parents to additional resources when help is needed.
Policy Updates
The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health (Policy Center) released its second annual impact report in November of 2024. The report highlights current and proposed legislation related to maternal mental health, comparing it to the Center’s evidence-based recommendations. In 2024, 21 states introduced a whopping 73 maternal mental health-related bills, with at least 10 of those states effectively passing legislation. California, Illinois, Louisiana, and Kentucky passed the most substantive laws, aligning their states with the Policy Center’s model legislation. For the second year in a row, most of these bills were related to “maternal mental health awareness” and “screening”. In addition, thanks to the Policy Center and their work with the U.S. Congress, there is now a federal resolution recognizing first week of May Maternal Mental Health (MMH) Awareness Week.
An up-and-coming piece of legislation we are particularly excited to follow is a bill just introduced in our home state of Connecticut, “An Act Concerning Maternal Mental Health” (HB 7214). This bill would move Connecticut much closer to the Policy Center’s evidence-based recommendations, establishing a state level perinatal mental health task force able to expand screening and referral accessibility, create an annual maternity care report card for birth centers, and evaluate pathways to make hospitals more doula-friendly. On March 14, 2025, Elevate’s Executive Director Hilary Hahn provided testimony in support of HB 7214. “By expanding access to screenings and ensuring providers are equipped to connect mothers with care, this bill strengthens the infrastructure needed to support women in their roles as caregivers, workers, and community members. Moreover, integrating mental health services into routine maternal care helps reduce stigma and ensure early intervention—both of which are essential to improving outcomes and promoting financial security for families.”
Finally, in December of 2024 Congress also passed the bipartisan “Maintaining our Obligation to Moms who Serve Act” (The MOMS Act) as a part of the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. The MOMS Act mandates the establishment of clinical and non-medical resources towards the prevention and treatment of maternal mental health conditions, to be implemented within the military health care system. With roughly one in three military mothers experiencing a mental health condition, these programs will be designed to meet the unique needs of military families.