The drug is expensive, costing nearly $16,000 for a two-week regimen but most insurers have not published coverage guidelines, according to an analysis by the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health. Yet if left untreated, postpartum depression can affect women, their children and entire families.
Caitlin Murphy, a co-author of the new report and a research scientist at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, is available to discuss postpartum depression, access to care and state efforts to address the maternal mental health crisis.
Murphy's research helped support a report card produced by the Policy Center in May 2023. That report card ranked states on their efforts toward maternal mental health and found that 42 states received a D or below. According to the CDC about one in 8 women in the US experience postpartum depression and 50% never get treatment.
To schedule an interview with Caitlin Murphy, please contact Kathy Fackelmann at kfackelmann
gwu [dot] edu (kfackelmann[at]gwu[dot]edu).