The Mother’s Act is poised for mark-up in the Senate’s HELP committee, chaired by Sen. Edward Kennedy. Below is a summary of the bill. Click here to read the full text.

I plan on contacting all members of the HELP committee to voice my support for this bill and urge you to do the same. There’s a link at the top of the committee’s page to contact them or you can contact them individually.

Let your voice be heard – every one matters!

 And here’s a petition you can sign as well: http://www.capwiz.com/ndmda/issues/alert/?alertid=11246546

SUMMARY AS OF:
5/11/2007–Introduced.

Mom’s Opportunity to Access Health, Education, Research, and Support for Postpartum Depression Act or the MOTHERS Act – Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to: (1) states to provide to women who have recently given birth and their families, before such women leave their birthing centers, education concerning postpartum depression, postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, and postpartum psychosis and to screen new mothers for such postpartum conditions during their first year of postnatal checkup visits; and (2) public or nonprofit private entities to provide for the delivery of essential services to individuals with such postpartum conditions and their families.

Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the heads of other federal agencies that administer federal health programs, to organize a series of national meetings that are designed to develop a research plan for postpartum depression and psychosis.

Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director, to expand and intensify research relating to postpartum conditions to carry out such plan.