In June 2023 the American College of Obsetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) published the first Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) for maternal mental health. Earlier in 2023 (February) ACOG, which facilitates the Alliance for Innovation in Maternity Care (AIM), re-released the Perinatal Mental Health AIM “Bundle” which is used by Perinatal Quality Collaboratives and their Hospital partners to conduct continuous quality improvement to prevent maternal deaths.
Perinatal Mental Health Clinical Practice Guideline
The CPG includes recommendations on:
- Screening and diagnosis of perinatal mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, acute postpartum psychosis, and the symptom of suicidality.
Recommendations are classified or graded by research strength and quality. Ungraded “Good Practice Points” are included to provide guidance when a formal recommendation could not be made because of inadequate or nonexistent evidence.
Learn more about the CPG development process and access the guidelines here.
Perinatal Mental Health “AIM Bundle”
The Federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) contracts with ACOG to administer the AIM program.
The goal of the AIM program is to improve the quality of care in U.S. maternity care hospitals by creating actionable steps or “bundles” to improve outcomes. A bundle includes actionable steps that can be adapted to a variety of facilities and resource levels.
In February, the perinatal mental health bundle was re-released along with measures (HEDIS), allowing this set of recommendations to be considered a core or primary bundle, which is designed to address the leading known causes of preventable severe maternal morbidity and mortality in the U.S.
The Policy Center was involved in shaping the new bundle, including influencing the screening time frame recommendations. We also served on an expert committee to develop measure recommendations and advocated for the use of the new HEDIS measures, in outpatient settings.
