Recently, the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) released a new blueprint to improve maternal mental health, titled ”Maternal Mental Health Recommendations Report.” The report was a result of 2023 budget legislation (S4007C/R.555), which aligned with the Policy Center’s “recipe for legislative change” and model legislation. The legislation directed the Commissioner of Mental Health to establish a Maternal Mental Health Workgroup to study gaps and issue recommendations. 

Here are the key areas of focus and recommendations: 

Behavioral Health Integration in OB Care: Expand behavioral health integration (BHI) in OB clinics.

  • Implementation of BHI, including the Collaborative Care program and promotion of co-location of services.
  • Screening: Implement universal screening in obstetrics and gynecology (Ob/Gyn/Midwifery), pediatric, and general practice settings using validated tools, while addressing reimbursement barriers.
  • Psychiatric Consultation for ObGyns and others: Expand Project TEACH, the existing provider-to-provider psychiatric consultation program, to provide more training, consultation, and referral support for OBs and others.

Workforce Development: Diversify the workforce and train non-clinical staff in MMH-specific competencies.

  • Train 988 (suicide prevention line) counselors in maternal mental health competencies.
  • Scale up use of certified peers and doulas: Scale up peer support programs and promote Medicaid reimbursement for doulas, recognizing them as trusted community supporters.

Program Treatment Build Up: 

  • IOPs: Increase access to Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP), which provide services 3-5 times a week, 3-5 hours a day.
  • Telehealth: Expand access to maternal mental health telehealth services
  • Dyadic Care: Expand models that treat the parent-child unit together.
  • Ensure Mental Health Parity in provider payments and access via insurance.

Child Protective Services and Child Removal: Address mandatory reporting and investigations by Child Protective Services, which often prevent parents from answering screening questions honestly and from seeking help.

Public Awareness: Launch anti-stigma campaigns (e.g., “Hear Her”) and educational initiatives

The report notes that all of these recommendations were grounded in core principles, including anti-stigma and cultural humility, with a specific focus on reducing racial disparities.

Comparison to the Federal Maternal Mental Health Task Force National Strategy

The National Strategy to Improve Maternal Mental Health Care (2024), established through the TRIUMPH for New Moms Act (championed by the Policy Center), also laid out a strategy for Federal government, stakeholder and state action. 

The New York strategy aligns with the national strategy in significant ways, including: 

  • Social Infrastructure 
    • Federal Strategy: Includes broad “whole-of-government” aspirations such as paid family leave, universal childcare, and addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) on a national scale.  
    • NY Report: Acknowledges these as “Aspirations” or “Considerations” (e.g., paid leave advocacy) 
  • Clinical Focus:
    • Federal Strategy: Synthesizes the recommendations of national professional bodies such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM) in adopting universal screening to detect these disorders in outpatient prenatal and postpartum care.  
    • NY Report: addresses clinical delivery systems (outpatient care and hospitals) that the state OMH can directly influence.
  • Data & Infrastructure:
    • Federal Strategy: Prioritizes building a “National Infrastructure” and standardizing data collection to track disparities federally.  
    • NY Report: Aligns with this recommendation by suggesting improved “Data & Quality Improvement” at the state level, specifically by utilizing the NYS Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PQC) to drive improvements. (Of note, states receive credit when their perinatal quality collaboratives prioritize maternal mental health, and NY’s PQC did not report prioritizing MMH.)

Comparison to the Policy Center’s Maternal Mental Health Report Cards 

We encourage New York leaders to consider where there are gaps in the state’s 2025 State Report Card grade as well.  Here is a summary of the opportunities by category:

1. Screening & Reimbursement (Grade: F)

  • New York missed points because it does not require Medicaid Managed Care plans to report HEDIS screening rates, and claim submission for screening reimbursement to Ob/Gyns and other women’s health providers were very low.
  • New York’s report calls for utilizing the NYS Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PQC) to standardize screening protocols in hospitals, directly addressing the “low screening rates” critique by integrating it into hospital quality metrics. The Policy Center believes that anchoring screening in hospital settings is the wrong approach, as it curtails efforts to integrate screening in prenatal and postpartum care, like other routine maternal health screenings. 

2. Providers & Programs (Grade: B)

  • This is New York’s strongest area. The state gets credit for meeting the ratio of providers to patients and having outpatient programs.
  • New York’s report recommends broadening the existing state maternal mental health provider consultation line to support doulas, home visitors, and WIC staff, effectively surrounding mothers with supported non-clinical workers to further close the workforce gap. While this effort won’t be tracked in the report card, the Policy Center applauds this approach.

3. Insurance Coverage & Treatment (Grade: C)

  • The state lost points for not requiring insurers to have a dedicated Maternal Mental Health Quality Management Program and for gaps in provider submission of claims for treatment. 
  • When insurers monitor metrics such as the number and geographic location of PMH-C providers and MMH outpatient treatment programs in their networks, coverage of MMH-specific drugs/devices, and claims/utilization, they can identify opportunities for improvement, such as admitting more PMH-Cs and MMH programs into the network and paying higher rates to these providers when necessary. 

Considerations and Next Steps 

The New York Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PQC) will work to implement these recommendations. The Policy Center will be here to support the PQC. It will be critical that they focus on the domain where NY has scored poorly, “Screening and Reimbursement,” earning an F.  The PQC should also account for the national unbundling of maternity care payments and how maternity care should/can be expanded through the postpartum period. 

The Policy Center will be here to support the PQC in these efforts and all PQCs who are prioritizing Maternal Mental Health in 2026.