Rationale

Perinatal mental health conditions (PMHC) are a leading overall and preventable cause of pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality. PMHC are the most common pregnancy complication, with data showing up to 1 and 5 perinatal individuals are affected.  When not addressed, PMHC have been shown to lead to negative outcomes for the birthing people who are diagnosed with them, their offspring, families, and their communities.

It has been postulated that many obstetric care clinicians are not confident in addressing PMHC adequately as they were not trained in the full mental health care pathway including screening, assessment, timely initiation of evidence-based treatment, metric-based treatment titration, and follow-up to remission. It is our belief at PNQIN that in implementing these pathways using evidence-based care and a multidisciplinary quality-improvement focused approach, we can work to decrease the incidence and impact of PMHC at a local, state, and national level.

In practice, there are several documented improvements in management of PMHC following targeted quality improvement (QI) initiatives like the PMHC Bundle, in both outpatient and inpatient sites, across the country. A 2024 review of published accounts of PMHC-specific QI initiatives demonstrates that time and time again, there is an improvement in screening, referral, and treatment when projects are tackled in this manner.