90 Organizations Urge Congress to Allocate More Funds to the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline and State Maternal Mental Health Programs
Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance (MMHLA) authored a letter, signed by 90 organizations, urging the leaders of Congressional Appropriations Committee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies to allocate additional funds to address maternal mental health in Fiscal Year 2024.
The letter specifically encouraged additional funding for the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline and State Maternal Mental Health Programs. Both programs were authorized by the Into the Light for Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Act of 2022, legislation that was introduced and championed by MMHLA.
Requesting $3 Million for the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline
The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline launched on Mother’s Day 2022 and provides 24/7 voice and text services in both English and Spanish for individuals experiencing maternal mental health conditions and their loved ones. Staff for the Hotline include licensed and certified healthcare or mental health providers, along with certified peer specialists. In the first nine months of operations, the Hotline responded to 7,500 contacts (70% calls, 30% texts) with an average answer time of less than 60 seconds.
The Health Resources and Services Administration oversees and administers the Hotline, which is managed by Postpartum Support International.
MMHLA is advocating for an additional $3 million for Fiscal Year 2024 to continue the Hotline’s operations and expand its reach and services. This additional funding will be used to train Hotline counselors on best practices to support the unique needs of service members, veterans, and military families utilizing the Hotline, and to conduct a national public awareness campaign about the Hotline.
Requesting Additional Funding for State-Based Programs
MMHLA is also leading advocacy efforts for funding for state-based maternal mental health programs, another program administered through the Health Resources and Services Administration. When this grant program was announced in 2018, thirty states and territories applied for funding, but budget limitations resulted in just seven states receiving grants. These states have created programs that both expand the workforce to address maternal mental health conditions and provide critically-needed and cost-effective services to pregnant women and new mothers suffering from maternal mental health conditions.
MMHLA is requesting the highest possible funding amount in Fiscal Year 2024. Funding will be used to launch new maternal mental health programs, coordinate with existing maternal mental health programs, provide technical assistance for non-grantee states, address public awareness, and create programs that address disparities and substance issues for mothers.
With each additional $5 million that Congress approves, 7 additional state grants will be available, and millions more mothers and birthing people will be able to receive support.
The United States is Currently a Leader in Maternal Deaths — Congress Must Act
With maternal mental health conditions impacting 1 in 5 women and childbearing people (source 1, source 2), suicide and overdose being the leading cause of death in the first year postpartum, and our maternal mortality rates out-pacing every other developed country in the world, we urge Congress Appropriations to see the urgent need to fund these life-saving programs and to demonstrate our nation’s commitment to the health and well-being of our mothers and birthing people.
Source: Munira Z. Gunja, Evan D. Gumas, and Reginald D. Williams II, “The U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis Continues to Worsen: An International Comparison,” To the Point (blog), Commonwealth Fund, Dec. 1, 2022. https://doi.org/10.26099/8vem-fc65
Notes: The maternal mortality ratio is defined by the World Health Organization as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes. 2015 data for FRA; 2017 data for UK; 2018 data for NZ; 2019 data for SWIZ; 2020 data for AUS, CAN, GER, JAP, KOR, NETH, NOR, SWE, and US.
Data: Data for all countries except US from OECD Health Statistics 2022. Data for US from Donna L. Hoyert, Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2020 (National Center for Health Statistics, Feb. 2022).
Below are the organizations who stepped up and made this request to Congress Appropriations alongside us. You can read the full letter here.
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
American Psychiatric Association
Arbit Counseling
Association of Maternal Child Health Professionals
Brii Biosciences
Community Health Centers of Burlington
Compass Health
Cornell University
Emory University
Every Mother Counts
Families USA
Feed Your Mental
Forward Wellness Final
Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice
Hand to Hold
Happiest Baby
Harvard University
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies: the Montana Coalition
HealthyWomen
Heart and Hands Healthcare
Hope for HIE
International OCD Foundation
Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation
Kent Hospital
Legacy Community Health
Legal Action Center
Marce Society of North America
March For Moms
March of Dimes Foundation
Maternal Wellness Services
Maternal Mental Health NOW
Medical University of South Carolina
Mental Health America of Ohio
Military Birth Resource Network and Postpartum Coalition
Mom2Mom Global
Moms Mental Health Initiative
MomsRising
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Birth Equity Collaborative
National Domestic Violence Hotline
New York Perinatal Psychiatry
No Health Without Mental Health
North American Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynecology
Northwestern Medicine
Ohana Home Front
Parent and Child Education (PACE)
Perinatal Support Washington
Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health
Postpartum Resource Center of New York
Postpartum Support International
Postpartum Support International, Alaska Chapter
Postpartum Support International, California Chapter
Reproductive Psychiatry Trainees
Return To Zero: H.O.P.E.
RI International
Selectronics Corporation
Seleni Institute
Seven Starling
Shades of Blue Project
Shades of You, Shades of Me
Society for Women's Health Research
The Colette Louise Tisdahl Foundation
The Family Place
The Ohio State University School of Engineering
The Reilly Group
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of Vermont Health Network
Tuftsmedicine
Tulane University
UMass Memorial Health Care
University of California, San Francisco
University of California, San Diego
University of Kansas Medical Center
University of Minnesota
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
University of Toronto
University of Virginia
West Virginia University
What To Expect Project
Wheat Shroyer
William & Mary College
Women's Therapy and Wellness
