disparities also exist within other programs available to New Jersey moms despite experiencing mental health issues at twice the rate of white mothers black mothers are twice as unlikely to get help for maternal mental health issues Advocates say that's due to factors like Financial barriers and fear of stigma involvement of child welfare services senior correspondent Joanna gagas visited Care Plus nj's maternal and Family Center to see how they're working to address Mental Health for black women before during and after pregnancy maternal mental health conditions are the leading cause of maternal death so if we're not addressing maternal mental health not just the physical if we're not addressing the mental health if we're not screening we're doing a major disservice to not only black moms but all moms of all colors in New Jersey maternal mental health has come into Focus as a major contributor to the Staggering dispar ities that exist in maternal and infant deaths in New Jersey and the nation that's why Care Plus a mental health care provider has created the maternal and Family Center specifically for women and birthing people who need that support but too often don't get it about 75% of women uh struggling with changes in their mental health before during or after her pregnancy do not get treatment and black moms are even more likely to go untreated yet also more likely to suffer from depression or other mental health concerns says ladina artist one in five women will experience um some form of maternal mental health condition over the course of the prenatal or postpartum period um for black women it's two times higher than that of white women and 50% of black women during the prenatal and postpartum period will experience a mental health condition related to pregnancy and postpartum less than half will access treatment artist points to a complicated combination of causes that lead to these higher rates of illness and lower rates of treatment for black women what stands out the most is just the history of structural racism implicit bias definitely plays a role in you know um how uh black mothers and birthing people are treated whether it's medical or mental health facilities when they're reaching out not feeling understood not feeling heard as if they have a voice Care Plus is working to strengthen its relationships with other care providers in the area to let them know they're here as a resource for those Mental Health Care Services which are completely covered by Insurance we're getting referrals from OBGYNs from hospitals kind of giving us of a history of what they're going through from there they're seen within about four to 5 days um with with their first intake and at the end of the day what we do is we hear them out we try to understand where all of this is coming from how is it coming out within their lives and then from there they get assigned a um therapist we can see whether they would need medication um or if they would uh benefit from family therapy as well and Care Plus is now offering those other providers training to improve proove their screening process to better identify any mental health concerns their patients may have and then also what to do if somebody does yield a positive screening how to link them how to access the care so that we really have that strong Continuum of Care across the board there's no judgment at all whatsoever our main goal is to help these moms get through this period in time patients can begin receiving care here from the early Family Planning stages all the way to 2 years postpartum and if they still need care after that they can be referred to a mental health care provider here within the Care Plus system in relle park I'm Joanna Gagis and NJ Spotlight news support for the medical report is provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey an independent license SE of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association [Music]