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Government shutdown looms after Trump-backed bill fails; Environmental groups sue CA Air Resources Board over biogas credits; NY elected officials work to electrify municipal buildings; Need a mental health boost? Talking hot dog is here.

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President-elect Trump repeats his threats to jail Jan. 6th committee members, while also putting a stop-gap spending plan in jeopardy. A court removes Fani Willis from Trump's Georgia election interference case. The FAA restricts drones in New Jersey, and a Federal Reserve rate cut shakes markets.

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Rural folks could soon be shut out of loans for natural disasters if Project 2025 has its way, Taos, New Mexico weighs options for its housing shortage, and the top states providing America's Christmas trees revealed.

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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