Service members who are pregnant or just gave birth could get specialized mental health care under a pilot program proposed by the leaders of a House panel focused on military quality of life.
The Maintaining Our Obligation to Moms, or MOMS, Who Serve Act, which was introduced in Congress this week, would establish a five-year, $25 million pilot program to provide evidence-based perinatal mental health programs for pregnant and postpartum service members and other beneficiaries in military treatment facilities.
“Having given birth to my first daughter while in the Air Force, I know firsthand how pregnancy can take a toll on a mother’s mental health and impact their ability to do their job, and for our servicewomen, that includes protecting our national security,” Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., said in a statement announcing the bill’s introduction in the House. “We cannot expect our men and women in uniform to be ready to defend our country if we are not providing them with mental health resources, which must include perinatal and postpartum care.”
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Houlahan and the bill’s other House sponsor, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., are the ranking member and chairman, respectively, of the House Armed Services Committee’s quality-of-life panel. An identical bill was also introduced in the Senate this week by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen,…
