Maternal Mental Health: A Critical Component of Workplace Wellness

Consider your organization’s employees. How many are parents? How many are of childbearing age? If you answered more than one, it’s time to consider how your organization prioritizes not just employee well-being, but well-being during pregnancy and postpartum. This time period is one of the highest-risk periods for mental health conditions in women. While we increasingly turn our attention to mental health in workplace wellness, maternal mental health remains a gap in many workplace wellness strategies.

One in five pregnant or postpartum people will experience a mental health condition. They are the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth. With so many experiencing perinatal mental health conditions, addressing them in wellness planning is not only compassionate; it’s strategic.

Understanding Perinatal Mental Health

Perinatal refers to the time from conception through about two years postpartum. As a person’s mind, body, and lifestyle shift during this period, their vulnerability to mental health conditions increases.

Perinatal mental health conditions can include:

• Postpartum depression
• Perinatal anxiety
• Postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Birth trauma–related mental health challenges
• Perinatal substance use disorder
• Postpartum bipolar disorder
• Postpartum psychosis.

While many of us have heard of postpartum depression (sometimes incorrectly shortened to “postpartum”), some of these conditions aren’t commonly discussed and might not be visible in the workplace.

If you or someone you work with is experiencing one of these conditions, you might notice changes in:

• Emotional regulation
• Concentration and decision‑making
• Sleep and physical health
• Ability to manage workload
• Confidence, especially during return‑to‑work.

In an ideal world, everyone would be equipped to recognize and provide resources for mental health conditions in pregnancy and postpartum. Seventy-five percent of people will never get the help they need. When left unaddressed, perinatal mental health conditions can impact the mother, child, family unit, social networks, and community at large. Of course, this includes the workplace!

The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health reports that untreated maternal mental health conditions cost the U.S. billions annually in health care, productivity loss, and turnover.

Improving Maternal Well-Being

Returning to work after childbirth is a major transition. Many new parents experience sleep deprivation, hormonal shifts, breastfeeding challenges, child care stress, and pressure to perform at pre‑baby levels. Without support, these stressors can intensify mental health symptoms.

The 2016-2017 Wisconsin PRAMS Report explains, “newborn infants require nearly round-the-clock care, and many parents prefer to provide this care themselves in the first weeks and months of life. However, sometimes this family responsibility can conflict with employment.”

For all employees to thrive, workplaces need to reduce stigma, fear of judgment, and lack of flexibility that may prevent parents from seeking help.

What Makes a Workplace Maternal Mental Health–Friendly

As you consider how your workplace can improve its well-being programs to support pregnant and postpartum people, you’ll want to evaluate several areas.

Flexibility

A pregnant or postpartum employee might need to attend doctor appointments or address physical or mental health needs during the workday. Child care is costly and at times unpredictable for all parents. How are these scenarios handled in your organization? Are parents who have parenting responsibilities receiving negative consequences, intended or unintended, for required parenting tasks? These might include pumping breaks, abiding by daycare drop-off/pick-up schedules, last-minute child care issues, illness, or pregnancy-related appointments.

Return to work environment

When someone returns to work after having a baby, they may still be experiencing physical recovery symptoms requiring accommodations or breaks. Those who choose to breastfeed will need a safe, clean, private space for pumping (PUMP ACT). Even beyond what is legally required, how can you ease this person back into work responsibilities?  More frequent check-ins can help assess a new parent’s well-being, allowing them to ask for what they need and for your team to recognize if more support is needed.

Workplace Culture

An understanding workplace culture helps a pregnant or postpartum person ask for what they need. Even those who don’t have children should understand the incredible shift a pregnant or postpartum person experiences in their mind, body, and lifestyle. These factors will inevitably show up in their presence at work! It’s well-documented that mothers face a penalty in the workplace. This comes from biases and beliefs some people won’t even verbalize. This is where education and training create impact.

• Incorporate an understanding of perinatal well-being into employee training and enrichment opportunities.
• Create a culture of checking in with the person and their deliverables.
• Establish a pipeline for managing well-being concerns, whether it’s referrals to external resources or someone internally to provide guidance.

Workplaces that support new parents see improved morale, stronger engagement, and better long‑term retention.

Important Maternal Mental Health Resources

Local and Regional

• Moms Mental Health Initiative (MMHI): Peer support, education, and resource navigation for Southeast Wisconsin families

National

• National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: 1 (833) TLC‑MAMA, a nonemergency maternal mental health support line
• 988 National Suicide Prevention Hotline 

• 

  Casey White

  Associate Director

  Moms Mental Health Initiative