Maternal Suicide Resource Center

Congressional Briefing on Maternal Suicide

The Congressional Briefing on Maternal Suicide, moderated by Benjamin Miller of the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, highlighted the urgent need for action due to its status as a leading cause of maternal mortality.

Policy Recommendations Include:

Congress:
➡️ Expand funding for state Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs) and Perinatal Quality Committees (PQCs) to implement the Zero Suicide Framework 
➡️ Create a Federal Maternal Psychiatry Consultation Program to permanently fund existing state programs and expand to other states (HRSA)
➡️ Revise Child Welfare Law (CAPTA) to Remove Mandatory Reporting to

➡️ Child Protective Services in favor of Safety Plans when a Patient is suicidal
Ensure all women have Access to Maternity Care via Infrastructure (like libraries, roads, police, etc.)
 
Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS):
➡️ Require states to report the HEDIS Perinatal Depression Screening Measures 
➡️ Require measures for suicide screening/assessment and safety plan development in primary care and obstetric settings 

Issue Brief: Maternal Suicide in the U.S.: Opportunities for Improved Data Collection and Health Care System Change

Maternal Suicide Awareness Month

Key Dates:

September
Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month and Maternal Suicide Awareness Month

Maternal Suicide Awareness Week

Annually, Maternal Suicide Awareness Week happens during the week of World Suicide Prevention Day, which takes place on September 10th each year.

In 2024, Maternal Suicide Awareness Week will take place from September 9-13, 2024. Use this zoom background throughout the month of September to raise awareness and show your support during virtual meetings.

History of Maternal Suicide Awareness Week and Remembrance Vigil

• Then, research suggested suicide was a leading cause of maternal mortality; however, data on U.S. maternal suicide was not available. Our ultimate goal was to drive action in improving the reporting of maternal suicide rates in the U.S. and implementing programs to prevent maternal suicide.  
• During this time, we hosted webinars, provided fact sheets and social media toolkits and posts, and hosted the remembrance candlelight vigil with families impacted by maternal suicide to say the names of mothers lost.
• Though the Policy Center no longer produces a social media toolkit annually, the Policy Center posts may be shared on social media, and/or facts can be pulled from our maternal suicide reference materials.

CDC Report on Pregnancy-Related Deaths: Data from Maternal Mortality Review Committees in 36 US States, 2017–2019

In September 2022, the CDC released a report on maternal mortality. Mental health conditions (including deaths by suicide and overdose/poisoning related to substance use disorder) were the leading underlying causes of pregnancy-related death, accounting for 23% of the deaths. More than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths were preventable.

U.S. Maternal Suicide Facts Sheet

Suicide is a preventable public health problem and a leading cause of death in the United States. More investment in suicide prevention, education and research will help prevent the untimely deaths of thousands of Americans each year.

Past Maternal Suicide Webinars

The Latest in Maternal Suicide Trends Fireside Chat

Friday, September 22, 2023

Maternal Suicide in the U.S., The Latest Research & Data Collection Efforts 2022

Maternal suicide is a leading cause of maternal mortality. With efforts made by the policy organization, 2020 Mom, and the CDC, the U.S. has made significant progress on tracking and reporting maternal suicide rates. However the work to identify maternal suicides is left to the states through reviews conducted in Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) settings. Additionally, state-based Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (PQCs) are generally charged with facilitating change based on MMRC findings.

This webinar covers:

• A general overview of maternal suicide statistics in the US
• Updated data from the CDC on Maternal Mortality Review Committees and pregnancy-related suicide deaths.
• How states are improving suicide detection in their MMRC process, including the role of informant interviews in identifying maternal suicide deaths, a process adopted by the Delaware MMRC and others
• 2020 Mom’s latest issue brief – suicide tracking and prevention
• Colorado’s latest report illustrates suicide is the top cause of maternal death, and efforts the PQC is championing
• Challenges and opportunities

Maternal Suicide in the U.S., The Latest Research & Data Collection Efforts

Maternal suicide is a leading cause of maternal mortality. Despite common misconceptions, pregnancy and the postpartum period do not protect against the risk of psychiatric disorders or suicide. It has become increasingly urgent and important to normalize the discussion of maternal suicide to raise awareness and double-down on maternal suicide tracking and prevention efforts. In this webinar, we will cover:

PRESENTERS:

2020 Mom & Zero Suicide Institute Webinar – The National Zero Suicide Initiative: Levers for Maternal Mental Health

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Maternal Suicide: What All Providers and Advocates Should Know

September 29, 2020

Suicide Prevention Resources

• The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has resources to assist with setting and communicating policy priorities on suicide prevention, as well as infographics to share.
• Read about CDC’s suicide prevention strategic plan, grounded in data, science, action, and collaboration.
• Explore CDC’s Preventing Suicide: A Technical Package of Policies, Programs, and Practices for strategies and approaches with the best available evidence to prevent suicide.
• The Zero Suicide Toolkit: a detailed guide to Zero Suicide implementation and strategy.
• The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS): a flexible therapeutic framework in which patient and provider work together to assess the patient’s suicidal risk and use that information to plan and manage suicide-specific, “driver-oriented” treatment. It is a philosophy of clinical care that can be used for a wide range of suicidal patients across outpatient and inpatient treatment settings and in the context of various psychotherapies and treatment modalities.
• Care Transitions Outpatient Health Care Self-Assessment from National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention
• The Outpatient Self-Assessment is a checklist designed to help outpatient behavioral health care systems assess their policies, procedures, and practices as they compare to the Best Practices in Care Transitions for Individuals with Suicide Risk: Inpatient Care to Outpatient Care. The results of the self-assessment will help outpatient health care systems identify opportunities to improve administrative practices and clinical care.
• Outpatient Care Transitions Action Planning template from National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. The Outpatient Action Planning template was developed to translate the results of the self-assessment into action steps that will incrementally improve their overall care transitions and patient care practices.
• Suicide Safety Plan: A safety plan app that allows you to customize your own warning signs that a crisis may be developing, coping strategies for dealing with suicidal urges, places for distraction, friends and family members you can reach out to, professionals you can call, methods of making your environment safe, and your own important reasons for living.

Guide on Suicide and Serious Mental Illness

People who live with serious mental illness (SMI)—such as major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia—are at increased risk of suicide. It is critical to understand the problem of suicide for those who have SMI. That is the only way to create a comprehensive, effective suicide prevention plan.

SMI Adviser and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) are proud to present a new guide on Suicide and Serious Mental Illness. It is an ideal resource for both suicide prevention coordinators and mental health clinicians.

Why Screen for Maternal Suicide Risk?

Screening Tools

Several suicide screening tools exist; the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) is robust in assessing for ideation and risk.

The Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) is a tool that can be used in many settings, including, community settings, medical, inpatient, and outpatient behavioral health.

The C-SSRS assesses the full range of evidence-based ideation and behavior. It can be used as an initial screener or as part of a full assessment.

Those who administer the screening for maternal mental health disorders may wish to use the C-SSRS if a person verbally discloses suicidal thoughts or answers “yes” to question 9 on the PHQ-9 or question 10 on the EPDS, for example.

Additionally, the SAFE-T Suicide Assessment Five-Step Evaluation and Triage may be utilized to understand both access to potential deadly tools and protective factors.

Download the C-SSRS or combined C-SSRS & SAFE-T tools here:

Safety Plan Template

A safety plan is designed to guide you through a crisis. As you proceed through the steps, you can help yourself and feel safer. Keep your plan easily accessible in case you have thoughts of hurting yourself.

Monitoring Federal and State Maternal Suicide Reporting Efforts

The blog posts below share our analyses of how the U.S. is progressing in its journey to report a national maternal suicide rate. Follow our blog by signing up for 2020 Mom’s enews to keep abreast of the slow but steady efforts and progress being made.

• Maternal Suicide: The US Should Measure What It Treasures
• U.S. Has the Highest Suicide and Maternal Mortality Rates Among Wealthy Nations
• Maternal Suicide Tracking in the U.S. – We’re Getting Closer
• The Latest Data on Maternal Mortality (Including Suicide) in the US & CA

More Featured Blog Posts about Suicide

• Suicidal, Twice – Without Warning (Psychosis – an Afterthought)
• 988 Designated as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline [fcc.gov]
• Death by Depression, Not Suicide