PRINTER'S NO. 1477
No. 1172 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY KUKOVICH, MELLOW, TARTAGLIONE, M. WHITE, SCHWARTZ,
BOSCOLA, LAVALLE, LOGAN, BODACK AND COSTA, OCTOBER 23, 2001
REFERRED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, OCTOBER 23, 2001
AN ACT
1 Authorizing and directing the Department of Health to establish
2 a public awareness education program regarding postpartum
3 depression; and requiring the Department of Health and
4 certain licensing boards to develop an education, screening
5 and treatment program for postpartum depression.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Legislative findings.
9 The General Assembly finds and declares that:
10 (1) Postpartum depression is the name given to a wide
11 range of emotional, psychological and physiological reactions
12 to childbirth, including loneliness, sadness, fatigue, low
13 self-esteem, loss of identity, increased vulnerability,
14 irritability, confusion, disorientation, memory impairment,
15 agitation and anxiety, which challenge the stamina of the new
16 mother and impair her ability to function and nurture her
17 newborn child.
18 (2) Postpartum depression is the result of a chemical
19 imbalance triggered by a sudden dramatic drop in hormonal
1 production after the birth of a baby, and women at highest
2 risk for postpartum depression are those with a previous
3 psychiatric difficulty, such as depression, anxiety or panic
4 disorder and those with a family member suffering from such a
5 psychiatric difficulty, but postpartum depression frequently
6 strikes without warning in women without any past emotional
7 problems or psychiatric difficulties and without any
8 complications in pregnancy. Symptoms may appear at any time
9 after delivery.
10 (3) Women are more likely to suffer from mood and
11 anxiety disorders during pregnancy and following childbirth
12 than at any other time in their lives; 70% to 80% of all new
13 mothers suffer some degree of postpartum mood disorder
14 lasting anywhere from a week to as much as a year or more,
15 and approximately 10% to 20% of new mothers experience a
16 paralyzing, diagnosable clinical depression.
17 (4) Many new mothers suffering from postpartum
18 depression require counseling and treatment, yet many do not
19 realize that they need help. Those whose illness is severe
20 may require medication to correct the underlying brain
21 chemistry that is disturbed.
22 (5) Postpartum depression dramatically distorts the
23 image of perfect new motherhood and is often dismissed by the
24 woman suffering from this illness and those around her.
25 Sometimes it is thought to be a weakness on the part of the
26 sufferer that is self-induced and self-controllable.
27 (6) Currently, the United States lacks any organized
28 treatment protocol for postpartum depression and lags behind
29 most other developed countries in providing information,
30 support and treatment for postpatrum depression.
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1 (7) If early recognition and treatment are to occur,
2 postpartum depression must be discussed in childbirth classes
3 and obstetrical office visits, and public education about
4 this illness must be enhanced to lift the social stigma
5 associated with the illness. Such discussion and education
6 will increase the chance that a woman will inform others of
7 her symptoms as she would for physical complications.
8 (8) It is imperative that health care providers who
9 provide prenatal and postnatal care to women have a thorough
10 understanding of postpartum depression so that they can
11 detect and diagnose this illness in its earliest stages and
12 thus prevent the most severe cases.
13 (9) In addition to the mother, the effects of postpartum
14 depression can also impact the child and the father
15 significantly. Maternal depression can affect the mother's
16 ability to respond sensitively to her infant's needs and can
17 strain the parent's relationship as the fathers feels anxious
18 and helpless because he does not understand what is going
19 wrong or what is the source of the depression.
20 (10) Postpartum depression is one of the most treatable
21 and curable of all forms of mental illness, and education
22 about this illness can be very beneficial to new parents
23 coping with these emotional and hormonal changes by helping
24 them decide if and when they need outside help.
25 Section 2. Education, screening and treatment for postpartum
26 depression.
27 The Department of Health, in conjunction with the State Board
28 of Medicine, the State Board of Osteopathic Medicine and the
29 State Board of Nursing, shall work with health care facilities
30 and licensed health care professionals in this Commonwealth to
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1 develop policies and procedures which meet the following
2 objectives that address the issue of postpartum depression:
3 (1) Physicians, nurse midwives and other licensed health
4 care professionals providing prenatal care to women should
5 provide education to women and their families about
6 postpartum depression in order to lower the likelihood that
7 new mothers will continue to suffer from this illness in
8 silence.
9 (2) All birthing facilities in this Commonwealth should
10 provide departing new mothers and fathers and other family
11 members, as appropriate, with complete information about
12 postpartum depression, including its symptoms, methods of
13 coping with the illness and treatment resources.
14 (3) Physicians, nurse midwives and other licensed health
15 care professionals providing postnatal care to women should
16 screen new mothers for postpartum depression symptoms prior
17 to discharge from the birthing facility and at the first few
18 postnatal checkup visits.
19 (4) Physicians, nurse midwives and other licensed health
20 care professionals providing prenatal and postnatal care to
21 women should include fathers and other family members, as
22 appropriate, in both the education and treatment processes to
23 help them better understand the nature and causes of
24 postpartum depression so that they too can overcome the
25 spillover effects of the illness and improve their ability to
26 be supportive of the new mother.
27 Section 3. Public education program.
28 The Department of Health shall establish a public awareness
29 education parogram to inform the general public about the nature
30 and causes of postpartum depression and its health implications,
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1 including its symptoms, methods of coping with the illness and
2 the most effective means of treatment.
3 Section 4. Rules and regulations.
4 The Department of Health shall promulgate rules to carry out
5 the purposes of this act.
6 Section 5. Effective date.
7 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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