Barriers to postpartum depression prevention and treatment: a policy analysis.

Public policy erects two barriers to adequate prevention and treatment of postpartum depression (PPD) in the United States: 1) the lack of parity between insurance coverage for mental and physical illness decreases access to care and 2) the current model of postpartum care fails to incorporate screening and follow-up. Treatment for PPD falls into the insurance category of mental health. But many insurance companies either do not cover mental illness at all or provide coverage that is far below that for physical ailments.