LOS ANGELES — Virginia is ahead of many states in the quality of its maternal mental health care, but one expert argued the Commonwealth has more work to do.
Virginia received a “C” grade in a report card from the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health. Collectively, the country received a grade of “C” minus.
Caitlin Murphy, research scientist and consultant at the center, stressed the Commonwealth must improve its maternal mental health care. She suggested Virginia should require screenings for those covered by Medicaid.
“Screening is really not occurring at the rate it needs to for maternal mental health disorders,” Murphy explained. “It’s estimated right now that about 50% of maternal mental health disorders are going undiagnosed. And also, unfortunately, even when screening is occurring, treatment is not occurring at the rates that it needs to.”
Screening rates for women nationally during pregnancy are 16% for women on Medicaid and 9% for women on private health insurance. Postpartum screenings were only slightly better at 17% and 11%.
The Commonwealth performs better than other states in some areas. Virginia meets the ratio of maternal mental health prescribers, such as psychiatrists, to the perinatal population. Murphy added the Commonwealth has a lot to be proud of when it comes to addressing maternal mental health, including its outpatient program for moms.
“Virginia does have a maternal mental health outpatient program for moms,” Murphy noted. “States can receive credit if they’re making sure that either inpatient or outpatient treatment programs are available specifically for moms suffering from maternal mental health disorders.”
Nineteen states received a failing grade in the report, and only seven states received a better grade than the Commonwealth. Nearly 50% of women with postpartum depression go undiagnosed.
