Prevention is an integral part of the package of improving the perinatal mental health of pregnant persons, birthing parents, mothers and women. Three years ago, just before the pandemic, the United States preventive services task force recommended that all individuals who are at increased risk for developing postpartum depression be provided access to effective treatments. These treatments are not widely available generally, and they are, in their current packaging, a bit tricky to use, because a lot of pregnant people are still working outside of the home and existing treatment packages are 12 to 18 weeks long and require weekly attendance.
While prevention in higher-risk groups is likely to be helpful to prevent postpartum depression, anxiety and other common perinatal mental health problems, there's still a lot of room for innovation. A number of groups across the country are engaging in this, me included. We know who is at higher risk. We can identify them. We can support them. I think that part of any kind of national perinatal mental health strategy should involve a focus on prevention and for a variety of reasons: to prevent illness but also to substantially reduce costs financially.