Untreated mood and anxiety disorders associated with pregnancy are costing California billions of dollars in health care spending, social services expenses and productivity losses, according to a new report.
The study, conducted by the research firm Mathematica with funding from three foundations including the California Health Care Foundation, estimates the cost of untreated perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) in California at $2.4 billion for all births in 2017. This includes costs incurred due to medical interventions, low-income health care, welfare payments, work absenteeism and lost productivity over a six-year period, from the mom’s pregnancy through the child’s first five years of life.
California’s burden accounts for about a sixth of the nationwide cost of not treating perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, which the researchers estimated at $14.2 billion.
“It’s clearly a significant financial burden in the state of California,” said Kara Zivin, a senior researcher at Mathematica and the study’s director. “This really is an important societal problem that we should do a better job of addressing through screening women during pregnancy and postpartum, and then making sure those people who need treatment get treatment.”
An estimated one in six California women suffer from PMADs, such as postpartum depression, during or after pregnancy. That’s higher than the national average of one in seven women, according to the report. Women living in poverty or who face other stressors such as domestic violence or lack of family support, as well as those who have a history of mental illness, are especially at risk for these disorders.
Yet many women don’t get screened for postpartum depression and other perinatal mental health problems. A billsigned into law last year, which requires doctors working with pregnant women and new moms to conduct screenings, is expected to make a difference. Even so, lack of access to treatment is an ongoing concern, said Stephanie Teleki, director of learning and impact at the California Health Care Foundation.
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