An Excerpt of the Recent Texans Care for Children Report, Healthy Moms Raising Healthy Babies: Central Texas and Statewide Challenges and Opportunities to Support Maternal Behavioral Health During the First Year After Childbirth
The following is an edited excerpt of our recent report on maternal behavioral health for Central Texas women, which is available in full on txchildren.org. This excerpt outlines the programs available in Texas to keep new mothers healthy, first outlining broad health programs and then addressing programs and services that specifically address behavioral health.
There are a number of important programs and services available, but there are many barriers to health care and behavioral health for Texas women. A significant barrier to health care is that one in four Texas women are uninsured during their childbearing years, the highest rate in the nation. Texas is one of 14 states in the nation in which Medicaid health insurance for women only covers pregnancy and about 60 days after childbirth. In addition to the lack of insurance, Texas mothers and pregnant women who need mental health or substance use treatment often face additional barriers, such as cost, the limited number of providers, waitlists for treatment and recovery services, lack of transportation to appointments, and fear that seeking behavioral health services will lead to a Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation and removal. These barriers are discussed in our full report.
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