II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3641 

To require the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program for evidencebased perinatal mental health prevention for pregnant and postpartum 

members of the Armed Forces and dependents, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 23, 2024 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot 

program for evidence-based perinatal mental health prevention for pregnant and postpartum members of the 

Armed Forces and dependents, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Maintaining Our Obli5 gation to Moms Who Serve Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘MOMS 

6 Who Serve Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PREVENTING PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH CONDI2 TIONS AMONGST PREGNANT AND 

3 POSTPARTUM SERVICEWOMEN AND DEPEND4 ENTS TO IMPROVE MILITARY READINESS. 

5 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec8 retary, acting through the Director of the Defense 

9 Health Agency, shall establish a pilot program to as10 sess the feasibility and impact of providing evidence11 based perinatal mental health prevention programs 

12 for eligible members and dependents within military 

13 treatment facilities with the goal of reducing the 

14 rates of perinatal mental health conditions and im15 proving the military readiness of members of the 

16 Armed Forces and their families. 

17 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—In implementing the 

18 pilot program, the Secretary shall— 

19 (A) integrate evidence-based perinatal 

20 mental health prevention programs for eligible 

21 members and dependents within existing mater22 nal or pediatric care or programming, including 

23 primary care, obstetric care, pediatric care, and 

24 family and parenting programs, when applica25 ble; 

26 (B) select sites for the pilot program— 


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1 (i) in a manner that represents the di2 versity of the Armed Forces, including— 

3 (I) not fewer than 2 military 

4 treatment facilities for each military 

5 department; and 

6 (II) geographically diverse sites 

7 across the United States, excluding 

8 any territory or possession of the 

9 United States; and 

10 (ii) by prioritizing of military treat11 ment facilities with established maternal 

12 health programs or women’s clinics; 

13 (C) implement the prevention programs at 

14 times, locations, and in a manner that 

15 incentivizes participation by eligible members 

16 and dependents, including by removing barriers 

17 to participation, such as childcare availability, 

18 differences in military rank and occupation, and 

19 any other factors as the Secretary shall deter20 mine; and 

21 (D) increase awareness of and encourage 

22 participation in care and programming for eligi23 ble members and dependents. 

24 (b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 shall establish an advisory committee to assist the 

4 Secretary in implementing the pilot program pursu5 ant to subsection (a)(2). 

6 (2) COMPOSITION.—Members of the advisory 

7 committee shall— 

8 (A) be appointed by the Secretary; and 

9 (B) include— 

10 (i) members of the Armed Forces and 

11 dependents, including individuals who— 

12 (I) are or have experienced 

13 perinatal care in the previous five 

14 years while in the Armed Forces; 

15 (II) represent various military 

16 departments and ranks; and 

17 (III) experienced a perinatal 

18 mental health condition. 

19 (ii) individuals with experience at mili20 tary and veteran service organizations; 

21 (iii) experts in perinatal mental health 

22 promotion, prevention, and intervention; 

23 and 


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1 (iv) representatives from the Federal 

2 Maternal Mental Health Hotline and re3 lated perinatal mental health programs. 

4 (3) DUTIES.—In implementing the pilot pro5 gram pursuant to subsection (a)(2), the advisory 

6 committee shall provide recommendations to the Sec7 retary with respect to the following: 

8 (A) Identification of evidence-based 

9 perinatal prevention programs. 

10 (B) Strategies to increase diversity in par11 ticipation of eligible members and dependents. 

12 (C) Outreach to eligible members and de13 pendents on the benefits of prevention and the 

14 availability of pilot program participation. 

15 (D) Strategies to reduce stigma with re16 spect to perinatal mental health conditions and 

17 the use of prevention programs. 

18 (4) TERMINATION.—Section 1013 of title 5, 

19 United States Code, shall not apply to the advisory 

20 committee. 

21 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 

22 provide technical assistance to military treatment facilities 

23 in implementing evidence-based perinatal prevention pro24 grams pursuant to subsection (a) and outside of the pilot 

25 program. 


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1 (d) STUDY.—Not later than June 30, 2029, the Sec2 retary shall conduct a study of the effectiveness of the 

3 pilot program in preventing or reducing the onset of symp4 toms of perinatal mental health conditions for eligible and 

5 dependents. 

6 (e) REPORTS.— 

7 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an9 nually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 

10 congressional defense committees a report on the 

11 progress of the pilot program during the previous 

12 calendar year, including the number of eligible mem13 bers and dependents completing a prevention pro14 gram, disaggregated by type of prevention program, 

15 military component, military occupation, rank, mar16 ital status, location and setting of delivery, sex, age, 

17 race, and ethnicity. 

18 (2) FINAL REPORT.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

20 after the termination of the pilot program 

21 under subsection (g), the Secretary shall submit 

22 to the congressional defense committees a final 

23 report, which shall include— 

24 (i) the progress of the pilot program 

25 during the life of the pilot program; 


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1 (ii) the number of eligible members 

2 and dependents who completed a preven3 tion program during the life of the pilot 

4 program, disaggregated by type of preven5 tion program, military component, military 

6 occupation, rank, marital status, location 

7 and setting of delivery, sex, age, race, and 

8 ethnicity; 

9 (iii) an assessment and findings with 

10 respect to the study required by subsection 

11 (e); 

12 (iv) recommendations on whether the 

13 pilot program should be continued or more 

14 widely adopted by the Department of De15 fense; and 

16 (v) recommendations on how to scale 

17 the pilot program and ensure cost-effective 

18 sustainability. 

19 (B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The final re20 port shall be made publicly available on a 

21 website of the Department of Defense. 

22 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

24 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 


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1 (g) SUNSET.—The pilot program shall terminate on 

2 December 31, 2029. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES.— 

6 The term ‘‘congressional defense committees’’ has 

7 the meaning given that term in section 101(a)(16) 

8 of title 10, United States Code. 

9 (2) DEPENDENT.—The term ‘‘dependent’’ has 

10 the meaning given that term in section 1072 of title 

11 10, United States Code. 

12 (3) ELIGIBLE MEMBER.—The term ‘‘eligible 

13 member’’ means a member of the Armed Forces 

14 who— 

15 (A) is pregnant; or 

16 (B) is not more than 1 year postpartum. 

17 (4) PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION.— 

18 The term ‘‘perinatal mental health condition’’ means 

19 a mental health disorder that onsets during the 

20 pregnancy or within the one-year postpartum period. 

21 (5) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro22 gram’’ means the pilot program established under 

23 section 2(a). 

24 (6) PREVENTION PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pre25 vention program’’ means a program or activity that 


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1 averts or decreases the onset or symptoms of a 

2 perinatal mental health condition. 

3 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Defense. 

Æ 


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