Alexa Cloutier ’28

by Alexa Cloutier ’28 on September 24, 2026

On Sept. 15, Massachusetts Governor Muara Healey announced new measures to strengthen postpartum and mental health care for mothers and families across the state. This plan focuses on reaching mothers sooner, making support more accessible, and helping providers connect patients to care when needed. 

Healey is proposing $2 million to provide statewide universal access to the Department of Health’s Welcome Family home visiting program, as well as an additional $250,000 to strengthen the Department of Mental Health’s Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program for Moms. In addition, the Department of Public Health will update state regulations to improve screenings for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and help providers identify concerns earlier. 

Welcome Family is a program that provides free and voluntary support for new parents and caregivers in the weeks following childbirth. Through the Welcome Family program, an experienced maternal and child health nurse visits the family home. During the visit, nurses check on not only the baby, but the caregiver as well, answering questions and providing additional services if needed. The nurses also help with breastfeeding and newborn care, provide screenings for mental health concerns and substance abuse, connect families with healthcare and social supports, and provide referrals for needs such as domestic violence and food access. The nurses follow up with families via phone after two to three weeks, making sure they were able to connect to services and provide any additional support. In 2025, Welcome Family provided 1,620 postpartum depression screenings. Out of those, 208 screened positive, and every person who was screened positive was referred to services.

In addition to the $2 million that Healey is proposing to expand access to Welcome Family, she is also proposing $250,000 to strengthen MCPAP for Moms. MCPAP for Moms is a Department of Mental Health Program that assists healthcare providers in preventing, identifying, and treating mental health and substance use concerns during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The program gives obstetricians, pediatricians, primary care providers, psychiatrists, and other clinicians access to specialists in prenatal health, care coordination, and training. The additional funding would allow MCPAP for Moms to track postpartum psychosis data across the state, thus improving understanding and clinical response, and create a clinical education team to help mental health providers recognize and manage perinatal behavioral health concerns. Additionally, the plan includes expanding education for mothers, families, and providers about the early warning signs of postpartum psychosis and when to seek help. Currently, state regulations focus primarily on postpartum depression; the updated regulations will reflect a broader range of conditions. 

Healey’s proposal follows the high-profile murder trial of Lindsey Clancy. Clancy’s defense argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she killed her three children in 2023. Her attorney argued that, due to the postpartum psychosis, Clancy could not be held criminally responsible for the murders. The jurors could not reach a verdict, and a mistrial was declared. 

In the wake of Clancy’s trial, Healey’s proposal puts forth efforts focused on ensuring that mothers are supported throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and the months that follow, and that families know where to look to find support.