State mandates
screening for
postpartum depression
BY JEFF WHELAN, The
Star-Ledger (nj.com) from the Web, April 14, 2006
Health care providers will be
required to screen new mothers for postpartum depression and teach the women and
their families about the disorder under a bill Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law
yesterday.
State Senate President Richard Codey, while serving as governor last year, had
provided $4.5 million to help encourage screening and education statewide.
The new law, which advocates said is the first of its kind in the nation, makes
the screening and education mandatory in postnatal care.
Corzine said that despite a massive budget deficit that resulted in severe
cutbacks in other areas, his proposed spending plan for the upcoming year keeps
the funding established by Codey in place. The governor said the law will
improve the likelihood that women suffering from the disorder would get the
appropriate treatment and was "a significant and positive step for New Jersey's
mothers, newborns and families."
Codey's wife, Mary Jo, had championed the law last year by openly talking about
her own struggle with postpartum depression. During the ceremony at the
Hackensack University Medical Center yesterday, which marked Corzine's first
public bill signing, the former First Lady was hailed for her courage.
"Thanks to my wife, Mary Jo ... today we are not just providing a safety net, we
are building a support system," said Sen. Codey, who attended the signing with
his wife.
Mary Jo Codey credited other women who have sought to raise awareness about the
issue but lacked the high-profile platform she was given during her husband's
term as governor. She said she stepped forward in hopes other women would
not suffer the way she did.
"I suffered like a dog and thought no woman on Earth should ever suffer like
this," she said, adding that she thought to herself at the time, "If God would
ever get me out of this mess I wouldn't keep my mouth shut. I would do
something about it."
State officials said about 80 percent of women experience depression after
childbirth, though symptoms usually last two weeks for most. But for one
in eight women -- about 11,000 to 16,000 -- the situation is more serious.
Women may lose interest in friends and family, feel overwhelming sadness or even
have thoughts of hurting the child.
Alexis Menken, a psychologist and the New Jersey Coordinator for Postpartum
Support International, said the law will serve as a national model. Mary
Jo Codey said she has already been invited to speak in Minnesota and New York,
where officials are contemplating similar laws.
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