ALBANY, NY (November 6, 2025) — Gov. Kathy Hochul announced New York’s first-ever maternal mental health report Wednesday, revealing that one in five pregnant women across the state face mental health challenges and offering a roadmap to fix the crisis.
Link to Maternal Mental Health Report Is Available Here
“As New York’s first Mom-Governor, this is personal for me — and I’ll never stop working to ensure that pregnant women across our state have the support and resources they need,” Hochul said. “Our report and ongoing efforts will help ensure all New Yorkers have access to critical mental health supports that improve outcomes for pregnant women and their children — especially among populations most at risk.”
The report, drafted by the Maternal Mental Health Workgroup led by the New York State Office of Mental Health, calls for better provider training, improved screening, expanded use of doulas and peer support, specialized 988 crisis counselor training and growth of the Collaborative Care Medicaid Program.
New York State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said the report “shows areas where improvement is needed in our state and starts the discussion on how to best address inequities that are placing some New Yorkers at greater risk.”
State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald added that caring for parents’ mental health “is caring for families as a whole.”
The state is also pumping $850,000 into OB-GYN and family medicine practices to expand the psychiatric collaborative care model, with up to 17 awards available to boost perinatal depression screening and cut racial disparities.
Two virtual roundtables on maternal mental health stigma and solutions are set for Nov. 13 and Nov. 20, hosted with Behavioral Health News.
State Sen. Samra Brouk, who pushed the workgroup into the budget, said maternal mental health conditions are “the third leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths” in New York and thanked Hochul for the $250,000 investment.
Assemblymember Sarah Clark called the report “a crucial step” and said, “As a mom of three, I know firsthand how mental health struggles after birth can be hard to identify let alone treat.”
Nationally, one in five pregnant women experience perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, with 75 percent going undiagnosed or untreated. Black pregnant women in New York are five times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.
Hochul’s administration is also rolling out specialized 988 training, expanding Project TEACH to more frontline workers and growing the HealthySteps program to 125 sites statewide.
This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.
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