Bill Text: CA SCR161 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month.
Sponsorship: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 20-5)
Status: (Passed) 2026-05-21 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 73, Statutes of 2026. [SCR161 Detail]
Download: California-2025-SCR161-Chaptered.html
Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 161
CHAPTER 73
Relative to Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
May 21, 2026.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 161, Weber Pierson.
Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month.
This measure would proclaim May 2026 as Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee: NOBill Text
WHEREAS, In the United States, maternal depression is the most common complication of pregnancy, yet also one of the most underdiagnosed obstetrical complications in the country. Maternal mental health disorders encompass a range of mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and postpartum psychosis; and
WHEREAS, Maternal mental health affects about one in five women during or after pregnancy, but all women are at risk of suffering from maternal mental health disorders. Specifically, in California, one in three mothers suffers from pregnancy-related depression or anxiety; and
WHEREAS, Fewer than 15 percent of identified cases of maternal mental health disorders are treated as a result of the shortage of screening providers who are available or able to provide necessary treatment, and also as a result of personal, structural, and systemic barriers within the health care system; and
WHEREAS, Untreated maternal mental health disorders significantly and negatively impact the short- and long-term health and well-being of affected women and their children; and
WHEREAS, Untreated maternal mental health disorders cause adverse birth outcomes, impaired maternal-infant bonding, poor infant growth, childhood emotional and behavioral problems, and significant medical and economic costs; and
WHEREAS, Lack of understanding and the continual social stigma of mental health disorders prevent women and families from understanding the signs, symptoms, and risks involved with maternal mental health and disproportionately affect women who lack access to social support networks; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature dedicates the month of May 2026 as Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
