The National Maternal Mental Health Accelerator Launches To Address Access To Maternal Mental Health Care

More than 100 national, state, and local organizations create new accelerator to double down on closing gaps in maternal mental health care.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health ("the Policy Center") today announced the launch of the National Maternal Mental Health Accelerator, bringing together more than 100 national, state, and local organizations to coordinate action addressing the most consequential gaps in maternal mental health care.

The Accelerator includes organizations across maternal health, mental health, policy, advocacy, philanthropy, and community sectors to align priorities, advance policy solutions, and deploy resources. Its goal is to translate growing awareness of maternal mental health into measurable systems change and expanded access to appropriate care by 2030.

The initiative will focus collective action for which its members, state and federal government partners, business, and philanthropy can align to advance.

The pillars include:

• Providers Trained and Care Deserts Erased to improve diagnostics, early identification, and treatment pathways. Access to maternity and mental health care is baseline.
• Postpartum Care Expanded by maternity care providers, ending the 6-week postpartum care "cliff" as women deserve to be treated by their own maternal health providers throughout 12 months postpartum.
• Paid Leave for All to allow women to heal and care for their babies, and others to care for them when mental health conditions strike.
• Providing no to low-cost care, so affordability is not a barrier to appropriate interventions and treatment.

These priorities will be enabled by the Accelerator through dedicated workstreams and by:

• Patients' Stories Being Told to combat stigma, illuminate gaps in MMH care, advance policy, and provide hope.
• Policy (State and Federal) and Research Being Advanced for lasting systemic change.

"While awareness of maternal mental health has skyrocketed, our care system remains fundamentally broken," said Joy Burkhard, CEO of the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health. "From healthcare and mental health provider access and knowledge gaps, cost concerns, and the lack of paid leave, mothers are falling through massive structural cracks."

With nearly 100 united organizations coordinating to advance policy and implementation, especially in our complex health system, the Accelerator is well poised to drive systemic change methodically by the year 2030.

National Member Organizations: Alexis Joy D'Achille Foundation for Postpartum Depression, American College of Nurse-Midwives, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Nurses Association, American Psychological Association, American Mental Health Counselors Association, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare, Association for Behavioral Health & Wellness, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, Behavioral Health Tech, Blue Cross & Blue Shield Association, Brazelton Touchpoints Project, The Carter Center, Center for the Transition to Parenthood, Chamber of Mothers, Cherished Mom, Children and Family Futures, CommonSpirit Health, The Community Health Acceleration Partnership, Cummings Graduate Institute for Behavioral Health Studies, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Developing Brain Institute, Diversity Uplifts, Elephant Circle, Families USA, Flourish Impact Fund, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, The Harris Poll, Healthy Moms Healthy Babies America, HealthyWomen, Heartland Forward, Hope for HIE, Ingeborg Initiatives, Inseparable, Institute for Women's Policy Research, Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, The Kennedy Forum, Madison's Closet, Marcé of North America, March of Dimes, Maternal Alloimmunization Foundation, Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Mental Health America, The Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, Moms First, Mothers and Babies Program, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Association for Rural Mental Health, National Association of Certified Professional Midwives, National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors, National Council for Mental Wellbeing, National Institute for Children's Health Quality, NICU Parent Network, No Health without Mental Health, North American Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics & Gynecology, Parent to Parent USA, PCOS Challenge: The National PCOS/PMOS Association, Perinatal Infant Mental Health Network, Perinatal Resource Collaborative, Preeclampsia Foundation, The Pregnancy and Infant Loss Institute, Pregnant with Possibilities Resource Center, Shades of Blue Project, Social Creatures, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, UNC Center for Women's Mood Disorders, United States of Care, ZERO TO THREE

State/Local Member Organizations: Alabama Prison Birth Project, All Moms, Arkansas Behavioral Health Integration Network, Athens Parent Wellbeing, Baby Blues Connection, Baobab Birth Collective, Birth In Color, California Perinatal Wellness Alliance, Doula Lab, EleVATE Collaborative coordinated by the St. Louis Integrated Health Network, Healthier Moms and Babies, Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies-The Montana Coalition, Inc., Hopeful Beginnings, Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative, Mamatoto Village, Maternal Mental Health Now, Mental Health America of Ohio, Micronesian Islander Community, MomsBloom, Momentum Wyoming, Moms Mental Health Initiative, Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative, New Futures, Parents for Children, Raising Resilience Cares, R.O.O.T.T., Sankofa Mama Birth Services, Thriving With Baby, Urban Baby Beginnings, We All Rise: African American Resource Center, Well Mama Inc., Whole Parent Foundation, Women's Health Innovations of Arizona, YANAM2M

Aligned Government Agencies: Federal Health and Human Services Office of Women's Health, California Office of the Surgeon General

The public and other interested parties are invited to learn more and see the evolving list of member organizations by visiting www.MMHaccelerator.org

Contact:

Kelly Nielson
[email protected]
310-955-1081

About the Policy Center

The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health is a national nonprofit policy and research think and do tank driving healthcare systems change, so that recommended maternal and mental health care is provided to every mother, every time.

Learn more at www.PolicyCenterMMH.org

SOURCE Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health