Proposed Bills Geared Toward Improving Maternal Mental Health, Keeping New Moms From Slipping Through Cracks
Bills on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk could require some providers to screen moms for these disorders. Hospitals and other facilities offering deliveries would also have to educate staff about the issue.
Capital Public Radio/KXJZ:
Maternal Mental Health Issues Affect One In Five New Moms. These California Bills Could Point Them To Treatment
Bills on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk could require some providers to screen moms for these disorders. Hospitals and other facilities offering deliveries would also have to educate staff about the issue. If left untreated, maternal mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress can lead new moms to take their own lives, or in rare cases, their children’s lives. (Caiola, 9/21)
In other mental health news —
KPBS:
San Diego County Adding Pyschiatric Beds To Serve Growing Mentally Ill Population
A new psychiatric unit is set to open in San Diego next week as part of the county’s plan to boost services for a growing number of people suffering from mental illness. The 67 long-term care beds will serve people who are too ill to live on their own. (Murphy, 9/24)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Mentally Ill Cole Valley Man Needs Help. So Do His Neighbors
With strict laws governing the conservation of mentally ill people, the usual routine has those who are violent or threatening cycle in and out of jail or in and out of hospitals with little opportunity for real improvement. And plenty of opportunity for frightening innocent people. State Sen. Scott Wiener’s bill to expand the definition of who can be conserved to include the drug-addicted has passed the Legislature and is on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, though it’s not clear it would apply in this case. (Knight, 9/21)