OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A recent report shows Nebraska is behind on providing mental health support for new mothers. A study is now looking into what\u2019s behind the problem.<\/p>\n
Nebraska received a C-minus<\/a> in the Maternal Health Report Card from the Maternal Policy Center this year. The national average was a C.<\/p>\n An interim study<\/a> is looking into those shortfalls and possible solutions to give new and expecting parents better care.<\/p>\n Senator describes postpartum experience<\/p>\n \u201cI had extreme postpartum depression, anxiety, including suicide, ideation, isolation,\u201d Sen. Ashlei Spivey, of Omaha, said.<\/p>\n Those are the words Spivey used to describe her mental state following the birth of her second child. She said the words were hard to form at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not think I deserved to live. I did not think I deserved to be a parent. I did not think… And I started to make a plan, honestly. What happens if I leave? Who will take care of my kids? Do I take my kids with me, right?\u201d Spivey said.<\/p>\n Spivey said with the support of friends and family, she was able to get the care she needed. She said for many Nebraskans, getting that care is difficult.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see that people are having to drive over 40 miles for those appointments. That is more represented in rural Nebraska. But even in our urban core areas, when you think about transportation, access to doctors and scheduling, we are seeing the same outcomes, no matter geography, because we know that we have less practitioners in general, and then to meet the complexities of the pregnancy or the lives that these moms are navigating,\u201d Spivey said.<\/p>\n Lack of care means less data<\/p>\n UNMC said a lack of care also means less data.<\/p>\n \u201cSo based on insurance claims, we are not entering enough women into care, screening enough women, and moving processes forward from a payment and policy standpoint. And so that identifies huge gaps in what we know about perinatal depression, perinatal meaning before delivery, as well as in that postpartum era, that first year of life after delivery,\u201d said Dr. Ann Anderson Berry, medical director of the Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative<\/a>.<\/p>\n Study presented to lawmakers<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Spivey, along with several other advocates, presented an interim study<\/a> to the Health and Human Services Committee on the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that this is an opportunity to show via policy how we can care for women, children, and our families by making sure that we have the services needed and that it\u2019s affordable, right? That it can be accessed,\u201d Spivey said.<\/p>\n The hope is to pinpoint possible changes to state policy, insurance coverages, services or funding that could improve support for Nebraska mothers during the legislative session.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really, to me, about meeting moms where they are to say, this is what you\u2019re experiencing. And then, here are your options. Here\u2019s a support. It may be a medical intervention, like where you get on antidepressants. It may be a holistic approach. It may be that there\u2019s some community supports. And so, one of the things that I do think is important to uplift within this kind of model in addressing the issues is that there is a new partnership with I Be Black Girl and Nebraska Medicine and UNMC that is looking at doing a centering model around perinatal mental health called Mindful Moms. And it really allows for a different approach to give moms while they\u2019re pregnant, before they give birth, an opportunity to own and manage their mental health,\u201d Spivey said.<\/p>\n Advice for new and expecting parents<\/p>\n Spivey said through her experience, she found a community of local mothers who have also dealt with postpartum depression. She said it is important to lean on your village and tell them how you are feeling.<\/p>\n As for partners of pregnant people, she recommends taking initiative and having a plan to break up chores or responsibilities before the child arrives to help take some of the pressure off.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n Watch breaking news unfold on our livestream. Download the First Alert 6 streaming app<\/a> to your TV or find us in your favorite streaming platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 WOWT. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A recent report shows Nebraska is behind on providing mental health support for new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":852308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[242241,360059,360061,360062,97,90417,253,33272,360058,14215,360060,155950,360057,360056,259,260,43984,53168,200202,197037,233724,72235,5497],"class_list":["post-852307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-ann-anderson-berry","tag-dr-ann-anderson-berry","tag-expectant-mothers","tag-expectant-parents","tag-health","tag-health-data","tag-healthcare","tag-insurance-coverage","tag-interim-study","tag-maternal-health","tag-maternal-health-report-card","tag-maternal-mental-health","tag-maternal-policy","tag-maternal-report-card","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-moms","tag-mothers","tag-nebraska-lawmakers","tag-new-moms","tag-new-mothers","tag-postpartum","tag-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}