A bipartisan bill to provide a five-year, $25 billion commitment to support military member moms and families who suffer mental health problems before and after birth is the first bill Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., will offer in 2024.
The Maintaining our Obligation to Moms who Serve (MOMS) Act comes after a 2022 General Accounting Office study that found the rate of mental health diagnoses among military servicewomen who became pregnant was nearly three times the rate found in the civilian population.
“All too often, the mental health needs of new moms fall to the wayside as they adapt to life with a newborn — and this rings especially true for the brave women serving in our military,” Shaheen said in a statement provided to the Union Leader.
“This should be a wake-up call that we must do more to support them.”
Sen. Debra Fischer, R-Nebraska, is co-sponsoring the measure that would set aside $5 billion annually from 2025-2029 to:
• Create a pilot program at the Department of Defense to implement evidence-based perinatal mental health prevention programs at military treatment installations in geographically diverse locations.
• Form an advisory committee of servicemembers and beneficiaries with life experiences and experts in the field to help create the best pilot.
“(Servicewomen) sacrifice so much for our nation — it’s our duty to ensure they have access to the best mental health care possible before and after they give birth,” Shaheen said.
Data from 2017-19 showed about 36% of expectant mothers who had served in the military reported having a mental health diagnosis either during the entire pregnancy or up to a year after giving birth.
The study looked at those on the TRICARE health insurance benefit plan for current and retired military.
Those women with a mental health condition included 62% of retirees, 37% of active duty servicemembers and 35% of military spouses.
The report also found that 41% of Army, 39% of Navy and 31% of Air Force servicemembers’ had a perinatal mental health diagnosis.
The Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance (MMHLA) last year authored a letter to the members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, co-signed by a coalition of 94 different groups, seeking congressional support to come up with best practices to serve these women.
The GAO study also found that servicewomen and their dependents with higher rates of these related mental health problems came from lower ranks in the military.
The most common diagnoses were anxiety disorders, depression and trauma and stressor-related disorders.
About three-quarters of these servicewomen did obtain treatment, according to the state.
The GAO found military installations reduced stigma for these women if they offer services within a women’s health clinic rather than in a separate mental health clinic.
Shaheen, a three-term senator, is the top-ranking woman on the Senate Armed Services Committee and on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
