Senator Parker Announces Support For New Mothers And Their Families

(Brooklyn, NY) - Senator Kevin Parker today announced new support by New York for post-partum services to new mothers and their families. The legislation signed into law today was introduced by Senator Liz Krueger, cosponsored by Senator Parker and five other Senators, and passed both houses of the Legislature with bi-partisan support.

“Sadly, maternal depression is far too common, and too many new mothers go untreated and suffer in silence unnecessarily,” Senator Parker said. “This law will increase awareness, promote early detection, and provide the treatment and resources for the more than 80% of women who experience some type of severe depression that can make all the difference following childbirth.”

The failure to treat postpartum depression rapidly and effectively in part arises because the symptoms of this type of maternal depression often go unnoticed. As a result, many new mothers and their children suffer needlessly and go untreated, sometimes leading to challenges for entire families and in physical harm to children in the most heartbreaking cases. Early screening and identification of postpartum depression has an 80%-90% success rate and offers long-term health care cost savings. Senator Krueger’s bill S.7234B, provides training to medical staff and resources and treatment to minimize the impact of maternal depression on new mothers and their families.

“Untreated maternal depression puts families at risk, and the consequences can be  dire, but the suffering it causes can be avoided with proper diagnosis and treatment,” Senator Parker concluded. “I commend Governor Cuomo for signing this bill into law, and giving our community’s families the support they deserve.”

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About Senator Kevin Parker

Senator Kevin S. Parker is intimately familiar with the needs of his ethnically diverse Brooklyn community that consists of 318,000 constituents in Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park, Kensington, Windsor Terrace, and Park Slope.  He is the Ranking Member of the Senate Committees on Energy and Telecommunications and Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Assistant Democratic Leader for Intergovernmental Affairs, and Chair of the Democratic Task Force on New Americans.