Senate Bill 135, sponsored by Senator Shelley Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, was passed favorably out of the Senate late last week.
The bill requires the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to provide information on perinatal mood and anxiety disorder on its website for ready access by birthing centers, hospitals that provide labor and delivery services, and the public.
Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer
“It’s truly an honor to carry legislation that will help us better understand, treat, and accept what a woman and her partner experience when carrying a child and then caring for the child after birth,” said Funke Frommeyer. “Perinatal mental health affects so many new mothers in significant ways at a time when they are often most vulnerable and overwhelmed.”
The cabinet will develop and implement a collaborative panel incorporating health care facilities across the Commonwealth that provide obstetrical and newborn care, individual health care providers, and other stakeholders to improve the prevention and treatment of postpartum depression and other pregnancy-related mental health disorders. The panel will identify gaps in perinatal mental health disorders, explore grants and other funding opportunities, and issue an annual report.
“The use of evidence-based treatment for postpartum depression or other pregnancy-related mental health disorders means Kentuckians will receive the very best care possible as their families continue to grow.”
This is the first piece of legislation carried by the freshman senator and part of her commitment to a wellness revolution.
Nice job.