Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is asking state lawmakers for $2.25 million to expand postpartum support, pairing voluntary nurse visits for families with newborns with additional funding for a statewide perinatal mental-health program. She also directed the Department of Public Health to update screening regulations, according to the proposal announced Tuesday.
The largest piece is a $2 million state investment in a federally supported home-visiting program. Massachusetts has roughly 68,000 births annually, while the existing program reaches about 3,000 families a year. Participation would remain voluntary. During a visit, a nurse could help with feeding, sleep and newborn care, monitor the parent’s physical recovery and screen for depression or other mental-health concerns.
Healey also proposed $250,000 for the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program for Moms. The program is designed to strengthen the ability of obstetric, pediatric and primary-care clinicians to respond to mental-health and substance-use concerns during pregnancy and after delivery. Existing state program guidance describes the service as a way to build the capacity of providers serving pregnant and postpartum patients and their children.
Why the state is focusing on the year after birth
The proposal addresses a period in which Massachusetts’ own review process has identified preventable risk. The Department of Public Health’s maternal-health data report a pregnancy-related mortality ratio of 20.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, with deaths generally declining from 2021 through 2024. Healey’s announcement cited the review committee’s finding that mental illness, including substance-use disorder, accounted for 38% of pregnancy-related deaths from 2019 through 2024. The committee considered 85% of those deaths preventable, and more than half occurred from seven days to one year after delivery.
The package would build on a 2024 state law that expanded access to midwives, doulas and birth centers and required insurance coverage for postpartum-depression screening. The new proposal focuses less on creating provider categories and more on bringing support into homes, strengthening clinical consultation and revising screening rules.
What remains unresolved
The $2.25 million is not yet guaranteed spending. Lawmakers must approve the requested appropriations, and the Department of Public Health must complete the regulatory work before revised screening requirements take effect. The administration has not yet published an implementation schedule, enrollment process or target for how many additional families would receive visits.
That leaves the immediate system unchanged: families can use existing clinicians and maternal-health programs while the Legislature considers funding. The practical significance of the proposal will depend on final appropriations, the number of nurses available for statewide coverage and whether the expanded program can reach families beyond the roughly 3,000 now served.
