Eleven maternity wards have closed in New Hampshire since 2000, and the leading cause of maternal mortality in the state is behavioral health, including substance abuse.
In an attempt to address these issues — which have been reported by the Bulletin and the New Hampshire Bureau of Family Health and Nutrition — and others related to motherhood, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced Senate Bill 246, which they have dubbed the “Momnibus 2.0” bill.
If enacted, the bill would require Medicaid to cover maternal depression screenings for new mothers at their well-child visits. It would also require health insurance policies to cover mothers’ prenatal and postnatal depression screenings, as well as depression screenings for the mother at the child’s 1-month, 2-month, 4-month, and 6-month well-child visits and home visits. This also extends to people who lost their pregnancy due to a stillbirth, miscarriage, or medical termination, as well as adoptive or foster parents within 12 months of assuming care of a child.
This comes as doctors and the general public become increasingly aware of how common prenatal and postpartum depression is.
The bill would also forbid employers from denying employees time off to attend fertility treatments, childbirth, pregnancy checkups, and postpartum care. And those employees can’t be fired for attending these appointments under the bill.
The bill also seeks to establish a perinatal psychiatric provider consult line. It would authorize the state to spend $275,000 on that consult line and allocate $75,000 of state funds for rural EMS providers to spend on maternal health-related training. It also would instruct the state Insurance Department to examine what barriers are preventing the sustainability of maternity wards in New Hampshire and report their findings to the Legislature and governor’s office by November 2026.
“Making sure moms and babies have the support they need is something everyone can get behind,” Sen. Denise Ricciardi, the bill’s prime sponsor and a Bedford Republican, said at a rally in support of the bill in Concord Wednesday morning. “Supporting out moms and families is a shared value across the state and across party lines.”
The legislators behind the bill have cast it as a successor to the so-called “Momnibus 1.0,” a piece of legislation passed in 2023 as part of the budget. That legislation extended the time Medicaid will cover postpartum care from 60 days to a full year; required Medicaid to cover lactation services, donor breast milk, and doulas; allocated funding to family resource centers; and expanded mental health services for children.
“We are already seeing positive effects of this legislation with many more moms able to get the postpartum care that they need,” Ricciardi said. “But the work is not done. Moms need support.”
Heather Martin, who spoke at the rally Wednesday, works as a maternal mental health advocate at Dartmouth Health. Martin’s only sister died of a maternal suicide three weeks after the birth of her first child.
“No family should have to endure that pain, and no mother should have to suffer in silence.” she said. “Right now, too many moms don’t know where to turn for help.”
Martin said having these depression screenings at the child’s appointments is crucial.
“By meeting moms where they already are, we can catch maternal mental health struggles early and connect them with help they need before a crisis,” she said. “Moms in our state need help.”