Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey recently proposed expanding home visits from nurses for new parents and postpartum mental health screenings across the state.
Healey has proposed a $2 million investment to provide universal access to the Department of Public Health’s (DPH) Welcome Family program across the state and also $250,000 to broaden the Department of Mental Health’s Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program for Moms, according to a Sept. 15 news release. The move comes as the Lindsay Clancy trial in Massachusetts has fueled an intense public debate about postpartum mental health conditions.
Welcome Family is a voluntary and free home visiting program “that supports parents and caregivers in the weeks after a baby is born,” per the announcement. The program presently serves 3,000 births annually, according to Healey’s office.
The proposed funding would provide every parent and caregiver in the postpartum period across Massachusetts the opportunity to have a home visit, per the press release.
“Becoming a mother is a profound life change, and every parent deserves support—not just during pregnancy, but in the months that follow,” Healey said in a statement. “Postpartum depression, anxiety and other maternal mental health conditions are real medical conditions, and no mother should feel ashamed to ask for help or feel like she has to navigate this journey alone.”
“We’re working to expand postpartum care, identify concerns earlier and connect families to the mental health support they need, because taking care of moms means taking care of the whole family,” she continued.
Additionally, DPH will update state regulations to bolster screening for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and “help providers identify concerns earlier,” according to the governor’s office.
Healey’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request seeking comment.
Some critics have slammed Welcome Family program as amounting to government overreach.
The judge overseeing the Lindsay Clancy case declared a mistrial on Sept. 4 after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict due to lone holdout juror Michael Desronvil supporting conviction. Clancy’s defense team has argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she killed her three kids in January 2023, NBC News reported.
(DCNF)
