Cases <\/a>of anxiety and depression \u2013 including postpartum depression \u2013 are on the rise. But getting an appointment with a mental health provider can be an uphill battle given the shortage of providers in Connecticut<\/a>. Connecticut meets less than a quarter of patient-psychiatrist ratios in mental health care deserts, according<\/a> to independent data from the nonprofit Inseparable.<\/p>\n In response, the state is giving more front-line pregnancy and postpartum health care providers access to postpartum mental health care.<\/a> By placing this access at the fingertips of a wider range of medical professionals \u2013 pediatricians, primary care physicians, OB-GYNs and psychiatrists \u2013 organizers hope to help more new mothers access psychiatric treatment.<\/p>\n At the center of this effort is a hotline staffed by superspecialists in postpartum mental health. And it\u2019s become a lifeline for new mothers facing postpartum depression.<\/p>\n ACCESS Mental Health and Substance Use for Moms<\/a> was established in 2023 and is funded by the state of Connecticut through the next two years. The number of moms served rose from 67 in the first year to 368 in 2025 \u2013 more than a fivefold increase.<\/p>\n Dr. Ariadna Forray, a reproductive psychiatrist at the Yale School of Medicine, leads the psychiatry team at ACCESS Mental Health for Moms.<\/p>\n Forray is working to dismantle the narrative surrounding social expectations around pregnancy, birthing and motherhood. Most people view this as a common process that women go through, and that they get through it all on their own \u2013 whether it is transitioning to a new stage of life, breastfeeding, return to work or postpartum depression.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a bit of a fallacy,\u201d she said. \u201cJust because we\u2019ve done it doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s easy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Finding some happiness\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n This wasn\u2019t the first time Fields had experienced depression. She said she knew something was wrong after her oldest child, Elliott, was born. But her husband was working from home at the time \u2013 it was during the COVID-19 pandemic \u2013 and she felt supported.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there was no COVID, could I have done all this on my own?\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think I could have.\u201d<\/p>\n Now she had two kids and a husband away at work.<\/p>\n When Fields called her mother in panic, not knowing what to do, her mom urged her to call her gynecologist. She was quickly prescribed Zurzuvae<\/a> over the phone \u2013 it\u2019s the first oral drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for postpartum depression, and it\u2019s fast-acting.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it didn\u2019t work,\u201d Fields said.<\/p>\n After two weeks, her OB-GYN prescribed Zoloft.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then you kind of have to wait [for it to work],\u201d Fields said. \u201cHe was like: \u2018Until you find a therapist we are going to monitor you.\u2019\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Fields, a Norwalk resident, lives in a mental health care desert. Connecticut has 50 federally-designated places that don\u2019t have enough mental health providers to meet demand \u2013 they\u2019re called Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), according to 2025 data from the Health and Human Services Administration.<\/p>\n When she couldn\u2019t take it another minute longer, Fields told her husband to drive her to the ER. There, at Stamford Hospital, she was referred to in-house psychiatrist Dr. Marco Christian Michael.<\/p>\n Michael is one of more than 400 physicians in Connecticut who signed up to the ACCESS program \u2013 the state-funded service is free of cost to doctors and their patients. The hotline is staffed real-time by a team of reproductive psychiatrists at Yale who specialize in treating postpartum depression.<\/p>\n Michael is trained in geriatric psychiatry, so he called the hotline with Fields\u2019 consent. He walked the hotline team clinician through Fields\u2019 demographics \u2013 age, ethnicity, address, contact details \u2013 and was then immediately transferred to a reproductive psychiatrist. The two doctors discussed Fields\u2019 unsuccessful treatment, and Michael indicated he was thinking about starting another antidepressant, and asked for feedback.<\/p>\n Finding the right medication can get more complicated when post-pregnancy hormones come into the mix.<\/p>\n It took this level of collaboration and expertise to come up with something that helped Fields: venlafaxine<\/a>, a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor<\/a> (SNRI). Reuptake inhibitors allow more chemicals \u2013 like serotonin and norepinephrine \u2013 to remain in the brain to help with regulating mood.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the medicine that ended up, I felt, I don\u2019t know \u2026 curing it \u2026 but finding some happiness,\u201d Fields said.<\/p>\n Within days, ACCESS got Fields into an outpatient therapy program. Not because the team was able to increase the supply of providers; instead, they leaned into their working knowledge of providers across the state \u2013 who is accepting new patients, what insurance they accept and whether they have perinatal expertise.<\/p>\n \u201cRather than a mom or provider calling down a static list \u2014 which can be time-consuming and often unsuccessful \u2014 our resource and referral team does that outreach in real time, confirming availability and narrowing options to those that are actually viable at that moment,\u201d said Elizabeth Garrigan of Carelon Behavioral Health<\/a>, which is contracted by the state to staff the hotline with resource specialists and capture usage data. Carleon has more than 150,000 providers across the U.S., and connects moms with resources and offers referrals.<\/p>\n \u201cIn short, it\u2019s less about increasing supply and more about navigating the existing system efficiently,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u2018The secret sauce\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Yale\u2019s Forray said \u201cthe secret sauce\u201d was staying with the mom after making those connections.<\/p>\n \u201cOur resource specialist follows up. It\u2019s like \u2018How did that appointment go? Did it go well?\u2019 Right? That\u2019s what’s really unique,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just handing someone a paper here, some referrals. It’s actually working with mom to find the right fit.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan Caron King<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Connecticut Public<\/p>\n Dr. Ariadna Forray stands for a portrait at Yale New Haven Hospital on February 17, 2026.<\/p>\n And as word got out about the ACCESS program, the number of obstetrics providers who signed up rose from 335 in 2023 to more than 430 in 2025.<\/p>\n The program is also working to address socio-economic disparities, so moms receive additional support if needed \u2013 like working around insurance, access to a diaper bank and help with food and housing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a really good partnership between us who see patients in the community, and helped me identify some of our community services,\u201d said Michael of Stamford Hospital.<\/p>\n Women\u2019s socioeconomic well-being is linked to postpartum mental health. One study<\/a> found that women with low socioeconomic status were 11 times more likely to be clinically depressed after giving birth, while another study<\/a> found that new mothers living in disadvantaged neighborhoods were at higher risk for postpartum depression.<\/p>\n There are also significant racial disparities in maternal mortality rates. Black women are three times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy complications, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n ACCESS organizers hope their effort addresses these disparities.<\/p>\n The ACCESS program also aims to help doctors like Michael with free monthly training to treat postpartum mood disorders.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have this clinical conversation series that they do every month specifically for reproductive health,\u201d said Michael, who signed up to participate because Stamford Health has a growing need for psychiatric expertise surrounding maternal health.<\/p>\n The ACCESS program builds on the success of Beacon\u2019s Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program<\/a> (MCPAP) for Moms launched in 2014. And it seeks to fill some of the gap in access to maternal health care after the closure of several birthing units across <\/a>Connecticut.<\/p>\n The program\u2019s success stems from a range of offerings beyond the hotline. For instance, a toolkit on substance use disorder and perinatal mental health listed on its website are for providers with varying levels of knowledge in treating postpartum depression.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do get mental health providers that call \u2013 so psychiatrists, or psychiatrist APRNs that are prescribing, and they might not be familiar with these tools,\u201d said Forray, who leads the program\u2019s psychiatry team. \u201cWhile obstetricians might be [familiar with this aspect] \u2013 they might not be familiar with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. That\u2019s the benefit of the program; we can really provide specific resources for the perinatal population to all providers.\u201d<\/p>\n A mother\u2019s journey\u00a0<\/p>\n Back in Norwalk, Emily Fields is playing with her daughter and son in the living room.<\/p>\n After getting help from the ACCESS hotline, Fields continues to stay on the antidepressant venlafaxine.<\/p>\n The helpline\u2019s helped her return to work. After not being able to be around kids, Fields is \u2013 once again \u2013 in the classroom, teaching middle school.<\/p>\n Tyler Russell<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Connecticut Public<\/p>\n Emily Fields smiles brightly as she reads to her daughter Emma. Emma alternates between snuggling on her mom’s lap and leaping up to point at the next page of the book.<\/p>\n The helpline\u2019s also helping her bond with Emma, who stacked building blocks and looked up at the sound of her mother\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I ever wanted was a little girl,\u201d Fields said, speaking tenderly to Emma. \u201cThen I got you, and I couldn\u2019t even hang out with you.<\/p>\n \u201cBut now we can be friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Resources<\/p>\n ACCESS Mental Health for Moms<\/a> is free to providers and patients regardless of insurance status. Medical providers who are in need of immediate perinatal psychiatric consultation can access the perinatal psychiatry team at Yale by calling 1-833-978-6667, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you are pregnant or are a new parent and are feeling overwhelmed, sad, or anxious and need someone to talk to, the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline <\/a>can help \u2013 24\/7 \u2013 call or text 1-833-852-6262. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal ideation, call 211, Connecticut\u2019s 24\/7 crisis hotline. When in an immediate crisis, call 911.\u00a0<\/p>\n About this story<\/p>\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/8cfe910\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3000x2000+0+0\/resize\/880x587!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2Fad%2F2a57b05544e79173c25a5c34c7d1%2F260217-ariadna-forray-rka-3579.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Emily](\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/dfb578e\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3000x2000+0+0\/resize\/880x587!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa7%2F5b%2Fb154f04742759a4360a26a661f65%2F260212-postpartum-tra0767-grove.jpg\"\/)
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