A new report from the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health shows 70% of U.S. counties do not have sufficient mental health resources to support new mothers, including 157 counties that are "maternal mental health dark zones," which are areas determined to have the highest risks and lowest resources.
Report authors used census data and known risk factors tied to maternal mental health disorders, such as intimate partner violence, poverty, unintended pregnancy and social isolation to develop risk factor scores for every county in the country. They also looked at whether counties had appropriate resources, based on the level of need. Resources the report authors looked at included perinatal mental health-certified providers, psychiatrists who self-certify as having expertise in maternal mental health and community organizations.
Overall, the report found the majority of the nation's 3,143 counties lack appropriate resources for their perinatal populations, and nearly 700 counties have unacceptable maternal mental health risk scores.
A few more key findings:
- Higher risk factor scores were associated with rural regions, with many of the counties with the highest risks in the Mississippi Delta region, the Gulf Coast, Greater Appalachia, New Mexico and Arizona.
- The 10 counties with the lowest maternal mental health resources were: Los Angeles County, Harris County in Texas, Maricopa County in Arizona, Dallas County, Cook County in Illinois, Kings County in New York, San Diego County, Miami-Dade County, San Bernardino County in California and Riverside County in California.
- Counties with the greatest risk and lowest resources were considered "maternal mental health dark zones." Six states where dark zones were most prevalent were Texas, Michigan, Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Indiana.
Access the full report here.