Title: A resolution designating the week of July 19 through July 25, 2022, as "Black Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week" and supporting the goal of raising awareness and understanding around maternal mental health conditions as they affect Black individuals.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This resolution designates July 19-25, 2022, as Black Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 718 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 718

   Designating the week of July 19 through July 25, 2022, as ``Black 
  Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week'' and supporting the goal of 
   raising awareness and understanding around maternal mental health 
              conditions as they affect Black individuals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 25, 2022

 Mr. Ossoff submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Designating the week of July 19 through July 25, 2022, as ``Black 
  Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week'' and supporting the goal of 
   raising awareness and understanding around maternal mental health 
              conditions as they affect Black individuals.

Whereas 1 in 8 women and 1 in 6 Black women will suffer from a maternal mental 
        health condition at some point during their lifetimes;
Whereas maternal mental health and substance use disorder conditions initially 
        present during pregnancy or the year following childbirth, stillbirth, 
        or miscarriage, and include depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive 
        disorder, psychosis, and other conditions;
Whereas suicide and overdose caused by a maternal mental health or substance use 
        disorder condition contribute to the rising maternal mortality rate;
Whereas non-Hispanic Black individuals are 3 times more likely to have a 
        maternal death than White individuals in the United States;
Whereas untreated maternal mental health conditions cost the United States 
        economy $14,200,000,000 each year due to productivity loss, preterm 
        births, child behavioral and developmental costs, and other health-
        related costs;
Whereas maternal mental health conditions impair mother-infant interactions 
        causing negative behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impacts on the 
        infant;
Whereas untreated maternal depression during pregnancy leads to a higher risk of 
        preterm and low birth weight delivery and infant mortality;
Whereas many health professionals receive limited or no formal training on 
        providing culturally appropriate maternity care in diverse communities;
Whereas 50 percent of individuals with a maternal mental health condition never 
        receive treatment, and Black women are less likely than White women to 
        access or continue treatment, or refill a prescription for a maternal 
        mental health condition;
Whereas best practices for the prevention and treatment of maternal mental 
        health conditions include collaborative and culturally and 
        linguistically appropriate models of group prenatal or postpartum care;
Whereas addressing maternal mental health conditions is integral in reaching the 
        Healthy People 2030 goals of the Department of Health and Human Services 
        of a 10 percent reduction of the maternal mortality rate, maternal 
        illnesses and complications due to pregnancy, and the preterm live birth 
        rate; and
Whereas more research on Black maternal mental health outcomes and care, 
        existing State and other programs, and innovative maternity care models 
        designed to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health 
        outcomes is needed to inform evidence-based treatments, promote 
        prevention and recovery support efforts, facilitate early 
        identification, dispel stigmas and barriers to care, and provide insight 
        on illness causation and the effects of maternal mental health 
        conditions on infants and communities: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) designates the week of July 19 through July 25, 2022, 
        as ``Black Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week'';
            (2) supports the goals and ideals of Black Maternal Mental 
        Health Awareness Week to raise public awareness and 
        understanding around maternal mental health conditions and 
        their disproportionate impact on Black women and families;
            (3) recognizes the need for culturally and linguistically 
        appropriate prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery 
        support services for individuals affected by maternal mental 
        health conditions;
            (4) acknowledges the need for further research on maternal 
        mental health treatment models that are effective in reducing 
        racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes; and
            (5) encourages Federal, State, and local governments and 
        citizens of the United States--
                    (A) to support Black Maternal Mental Health 
                Awareness Week through programs and activities; and
                    (B) to promote public awareness of maternal mental 
                health conditions as those conditions affect Black 
                individuals.
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