Bichotte Hermelyn, Kelles, Raga, Cunningham, Sayegh, Otis, Lupardo, Santabarbara, Seawright, De Los
Santos, Jackson, Simone
MLTSPNSR
Amd §2500-k, Pub Health L
Directs the commissioner of health, in consultation with the office of mental health and other relevant stakeholders, to develop guidance and standards for routine maternal depression screenings, referrals, diagnosis and treatment, and to provide training and materials on issues related to maternal depression.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2870B
SPONSOR: Solages TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to maternal
depression screenings
PURPOSE:
To identify symptoms of maternal depression early by requiring maternal
health care providers to offer a maternal depression screening to birth-
ing people when providing prenatal, postnatal, and pediatric care.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends Subdivision 1 of section 2500-k of the public health
law, as added by chapter 199 of the laws of 2014.
Section 2. Amends subdivisions 3 and 4 of section 2500-k of the public
health law, subdivision 4 as renumbered by chapter 463 of the laws of
2017, are renumbered subdivisions 4 and 5 and a new subdivision 3 is
added.
Section 3. Sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill would make maternal depression screenings more available to
new mothers by asking the commissioner to develop and publish standards
for incorporating maternal depression screenings into routine care. This
would include having these screenings as the standard for pre and post-
partum checkups, and at initial pediatric checkups of their newborn
child. The intent is to help health care professionals better detect and
refer patients suffering from maternal depression to appropriate care,
improving the health of not only the mother but the whole family.
Section 2500-k of the Public Health Law defines the term "maternal
depression" as a wide range of emotional and psychological reactions one
may experience during pregnancy or after childbirth. These reactions may
include but are not limited to, feelings of despair or extreme guilt,
prolonged sadness; lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, fatigue,
extreme changes in appetite, and thoughts of suicide or of harming the
child. Maternal depression may include prenatal depression, the "baby
blues," postpartum depression, or postpartum psychosis - the severest
form.
Maternal depression can create bonding issues between a gestational
parent and their baby, contribute to sleep and feeding problems, and
cause emotional, developmental and verbal complications in children.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(ACOG), maternal mental health conditions affect 20% of all birthing
people and alarmingly, 40% of Black birthing persons during pregnancy or
postpartum. It is estimated that over half of the instances of maternal
depression in women of color go unreported.
ACOG has recommended that postpartum care should be an ongoing process
rather than a single encounter and that all women and gestational
parents have with their OB-GYNs within the first three weeks postpartum.
Passing this bill to make maternal depression screenings more available
would improve the health of tens of thousands of birthing parents annu-
ally, and by extension would support the health of all members of these
growing families.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A5076; referred to health.
2019-20: A3016; referred to higher education.
2017-18: A7138; referred to higher education.
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS:
None noted.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment
and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
completed on or before such effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2870--B
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 27, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SOLAGES, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, KELLES, RAGA,
CUNNINGHAM -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health --
recommitted to the Committee on Health in accordance with Assembly
Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again
reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to maternal
depression screenings
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 2500-k of the public health law,
2 as added by chapter 199 of the laws of 2014, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. Definitions. As used in this section:
5 (a) "Maternal depression" means a wide range of emotional and psycho-
6 logical reactions [a woman] an individual may experience [during]
7 throughout pregnancy [or after childbirth] and the postpartum period.
8 These reactions may include, but are not limited to, feelings of despair
9 or extreme guilt, prolonged sadness, lack of energy, difficulty concen-
10 trating, fatigue, extreme changes in appetite, and thoughts of suicide
11 or of harming the baby. Maternal depression may include prenatal
12 depression, perinatal mood and anxiety disorder, the "baby blues," post-
13 partum depression, or postpartum psychosis[-- the severest form].
14 (b) "Maternal health care provider" means a physician, midwife, nurse
15 practitioner, or physician assistant, or other health care practitioner
16 acting within his or her lawful scope of practice, attending a [pregnant
17 woman or a woman up to one year after childbirth] perinatal individual,
18 including [a] any practitioner attending the [woman's] individual's
19 child, from conception up to one year [after childbirth] postpartum.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03810-05-4
A. 2870--B 2
1 § 2. Subdivisions 3 and 4 of section 2500-k of the public health law,
2 subdivision 4 as renumbered by chapter 463 of the laws of 2017, are
3 renumbered subdivisions 4 and 5 and a new subdivision 3 is added to read
4 as follows:
5 3. Maternal depression screenings. (a) The commissioner, in consulta-
6 tion with the office of mental health, and other relevant stakeholders,
7 shall develop and publish guidance and standards for incorporating
8 maternal depression screenings into routine perinatal care. This guid-
9 ance shall include, but not be limited to, recommendations and best
10 practices related to:
11 (i) when maternal health care providers should initiate maternal
12 depression screenings and how often such screenings should be repeated
13 throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period;
14 (ii) screening for social needs that may contribute to maternal
15 depression such as social support, intimate partner violence, food and
16 housing insecurity, diaper insecurity, and barriers to appropriate
17 healthcare;
18 (iii) screening for substance use disorders;
19 (iv) referrals for appropriate follow-up evaluation, diagnosis, and
20 treatment; and
21 (v) reimbursement methodologies to incentivize provider participation.
22 (b) The commissioner, in consultation with the office of mental
23 health, and other relevant stakeholders, shall identify existing infor-
24 mation and training programs designed to support maternal depression
25 screening and treatment, and publish the links to such information and
26 training programs on the department's website. The identified informa-
27 tion and training programs shall include the following topics:
28 (i) health equity;
29 (ii) implicit bias and cultural competency;
30 (iii) screening, referral and treatment options;
31 (iv) patient resources and available services;
32 (v) patients' rights;
33 (vi) pharmacotherapy;
34 (vii) trauma-informed, patient-centered care; and
35 (viii) other topics as identified by the commissioner.
36 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
37 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
38 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
39 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
40 completed on or before such effective date.
