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Thursday, October 3, 2024

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Hurricane Helene death toll tops 200 as search and rescue efforts continue in North Carolina, community health centers in Florida struggle to serve patients as storm recovery strains resources, a new program offers Ohioans relief from medical debt, and voter advocacy groups say poor maintenance has led to inaccurate voter rolls in Indiana.

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Biden voices concerns over Israeli strikes on Iran, Special Counsel Jack Smith details Trump's pre-January 6 pressure on Pence, Indiana's voter registration draws scrutiny, and a poll shows politics too hot to talk about for half of Wisconsinites.

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Cheap milk comes at a cost for residents of Washington's Lower Yakima Valley, Indigenous language learning is promoted in Wisconsin as experts warn half the world's languages face extinction, and Montana's public lands are going to the dogs!

NJ taking action to improve maternal mental health

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Tuesday, October 1, 2024   

New Jersey ranks poorly for maternal mental health. The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health gave the state a C- due to several factors. A bill in the state Legislature would expand on current law by mandating perinatal mood and anxiety disorder screenings throughout a birthing person's pregnancy.

Yvelisse Gonzalez, senior manager of public health programs with the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey, said misconceptions persist about baby blues being mistaken for a more serious issue such as postpartum depression.

"Baby blues should last up to two weeks, postpartum. By the third week, the birthing individual should feel better," she explained.

She added there still might be some days of sadness or anxiety postpartum, but the birthing person should feel much better than they were. Gonzalez feels New Jersey is doing better to educate people about maternal mental health, which leads to better outcomes. Studies show New Jersey has a 95% perinatal depression screening rate when children are born.

New Jersey lawmakers have passed plenty of bills to bolster maternal mental health, others have yet to make it out of committee. One such bill would add postpartum depression to the state's behavioral health crisis services system.

Irina Polanco Ventura, director of public health initiatives with the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey, said there are other ways the state can improve maternal mental health access.

"One of the things that we really need to work on is increasing the number of professionals that are specializing in perinatal mental-health care. And, not only increasing the number of those professionals but ensuring that they're also representative of the community that they are serving," she said.

In 2019, the first medication treatment for postpartum depression became available. It involved a two-and-a-half day continuous infusion in a hospital. This year, Zurzuvae, also known as zuranolone, a pill taken daily for two weeks has come on the market.

Dr. Donna O'Shea, chief medical officer in population health and value-based care with UnitedHealthcare, said many factors can increase a person's risk of postpartum depression.

"Any women who have a history of anxiety or mood disorders, or women who have a family history of depression or postpartum depression; that certainly places them in a higher risk for not just postpartum blues but for actual postpartum depression," O'Shea explained.

Disclosure: UnitedHealthcare contributes to our fund for reporting on Health Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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