Gov. Josh Shapiro signed legislation to require the state Health Department to provide information about postpartum depression and resources for treatment for new mothers. The bill was sponsored by state Reps. Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia), Gina Curry (D-Delaware) and Lisa Borowski, D-Delaware) as part of the “momnibus” package of bills to combat disparities in maternal morbidity rates among Black women. (Photo courtesy of Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler)
New mothers will have greater access to resources to address postpartum depression under legislation Gov. Josh Shapiro ceremonially signed into law on Tuesday.
The new law would require the state Department of Health to compile a list of resources and a fact sheet on perinatal or postpartum mood and anxiety disorder that health care providers can make available to expectant and new mothers.
House Bill 2127 is part of an eight-bill package of legislation dubbed the “momnibus” dealing with maternal health and morbidity that the Black Maternal Health Caucus introduced this year.
The Black Maternal Health Caucus launched in 2023 with state Reps. La’Tasha D. Mayes (D-Allegheny), Gina Curry (D-Delaware), and Morgan Cephas (D-Philadelphia) serving as Caucus co-chairs to combat alarming maternal morbidity rates among women of color.
A 2022 report from the Maternal Mortality Review Committee, which reviews all maternal deaths in the commonwealth, found the morbidity rate for Black women was about twice the overall rate of 82 deaths per 100,000 live births.
On Monday, the state House cast the final vote to send to Shapiro another bill that would require Medicaid coverage for doulas, who are women that provide guidance and support for mothers during labor and after childbirth. The bill, sponsored by Cephas, passed with near-unanimous approval in the Senate earlier this month.
Shapiro also held a ceremonial bill signing Monday for legislation that eliminates financial barriers to speech therapy for children who stutter by requiring insurance to cover it. The ceremony was held with the bill’s prime sponsor Rep. Brandon Markosek (D-Allegheny) and former NBA star Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, both of whom overcame stuttering with speech therapy.
The bills are among more than a dozen Shapiro signed this month as the 2023-2024 legislative session draws to a close.
Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia) was a co-prime sponsor of the postpartum depression bill with Reps. Gina Curry, D-Delaware and Lisa Borowski D-Delaware. Fiedler, a mother of two, told the Capital-Star on Tuesday the issue is one that is intensely personal for her.
“I wish I had known 10 years ago, when I was a brand new mom, that postpartum depression is really common,” she said. “It is a treatable mental health condition, and you can get better.”
Mental health conditions are the largest cause of pregnancy-related death in Pennsylvania, with nearly 75% of mothers experiencing postpartum depression and most receiving no treatment, according to the state Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
Under the legislation Shapiro signed Tuesday, the Department of Health is required to maintain an up-to-date list of organizations that provide counseling for postpartum mental health disorders. The list and literature promoting awareness of perinatal and postpartum mental health must be available in a variety of languages including English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin and Chinese.
“More new moms, more families will learn those … simple but really important facts,” Fiedler said. “When people are dealing with so much with a new baby at home, the joy and the challenges and all of that, and then are hit by something like postpartum depression, it just makes everything harder.”