Colorado maternal care grade drops
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Colorado earned a C for maternal mental health care this year, down from a B- in 2025, according to a new report from the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health.
Why it matters: About 1 in 5 U.S. moms experience maternal mental health conditions such as postpartum depression, and most don't get treatment.
How it works: States were scored across 27 measures in four areas:
- Screening and detection.
- Providers and treatment.
- Policy and payment.
- Support for new parents.
The big picture: Colorado's grade matched the nation's overall performance.
- 25 states earned a C.
- No state earned an A.
Zoom in: State officials say major barriers remain, especially in rural Colorado.
- About 40% of Colorado counties are maternity care deserts, George Laumeyer, public information officer for the state's Behavioral Health Administration, tells Axios. That means they have no hospitals or birth centers providing obstetric care and have no OB providers.
- Laumeyer also cites limited broadband access, workforce shortages, and the lack of a maternal mental-health-specific inpatient or partial hospitalization program, where parents can stay with their infants during treatment.
An analysis of more than 170,000 deliveries from 2019–2023 by the Colorado Perinatal Care Quality Collaborative and the Center for Improving Value in Health Care found:
- 1 in 3 Colorado births involved a parent with a diagnosed mental health condition, most commonly anxiety or depression.
- Two-thirds of postpartum people with a mental health diagnosis didn't receive mental health services during or after pregnancy.
The findings underscore the need for early, coordinated and culturally responsive care for Colorado families, per Laumeyer.
- The state is working toward these goals with expanded mental health screenings during and after pregnancy and by investing in maternal behavioral health programs, he says.
For families seeking help, he highlights several resources in El Paso County:
- The Tough as a Mother campaign aims to reduce stigma around maternal substance use disorders and connect pregnant and parenting moms with treatment and recovery support.
- Care coordination is also available through Signal Behavioral Health Network's care access line at 888-607-4462.
The bottom line: "While we applaud the progress states are making, the U.S. is providing mediocre maternal mental health care at best," said Joy Burkhard, CEO of the Policy Center, which also released a roadmap for states to improve maternal mental health care.
Go deeper: Here's how states scored on each measure.