Mental health needs of pregnant women not being met

Posted on September 28, 2015

*Pregnant woman and mothers are most in need when it comes to mental health care. (Flickr/Teza Harinaivo Ramiandrisoa)*

By Terry James

BLOOMINGTON – We do a good job of taking care of the physical needs of pregnant women and new mothers in Illinois, but the psychological needs of those women is lacking.

So said Director Nirav Shah of the Department of Public Health in Illinois. The determination was made after results of a recent health assessment were released.

“Postpartum depression is one of it,” said Shah. “We’re also really concerned about prepartum or antipartum depression. There’s a lot of data out there that shows the mental health of the mother plays an out sized role in the Determining the future of a child’s entire life.”

Bloomington and Normal Councilmen have passed a sales tax that will in part help fund mental health needs in the community.

Director Shah saID he will be watching to see if that funding mechanism will help to improve the outreach to pregnant women and new mothers.

Terry James can be reached at [email protected].

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