The Honorable Ronald Mariano,
Speaker Massachusetts House of Representatives
State House, Room 356
Boston, MA 02133
The Honorable Aaron Michlewitz
Chair, House Committee on Ways & Means
State House, Room 243
Boston, MA 02133
Re: Fiscal Year 2026 House Budget Amendment #1049
Dear Speaker Mariano and Chairman Michlewitz,
We are members of the Massachusetts Mind the Gap Coalition, a group of over 40 health care organizations, nonprofits, community-based organizations, survivors and other advocates supported by Postpartum Support International’s national Mind the Gap initiative,
working to improve state policies around Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs). We are grateful for the Legislature’s unanimous passage of the omnibus maternal health bill last session, including the Moms Matter Act and other critical provisions
addressing screening and care for parents facing PMADs.
We are writing to urge you to support funding for the Moms Matter Act (Section 1 of Chapter 186 of the Acts of 2024) in the FY 2026 House Budget by supporting the passage of Rep. Fluker-Reid’s House Amendment #1049.
As you may know, PMADs are the #1 complication of pregnancy, impacting approximately 1 in 5 new moms and 1 in 10 new dads – over 20,000 parents in Massachusetts each year – with significant mental health, family, community, and economic consequences.
Unfortunately, 75% of those facing these mental health challenges do not receive treatment. And parents facing racial and/or economic inequities are both more likely to experience PMADs and less likely to access care.
One key solution to this mental health crisis is local, community-based support programs, which are the focus of the Moms Matter Act. These programs (such as support groups, programs providing support for pregnancy and infant loss, group pregnancy care,
and more) meet parents where they’re at and provide accessible, culturally congruent, responsive care. By providing local care in the community, oftentimes led by peers from that same community, these programs address the overwhelming and sometimes
insurmountable barriers to care faced by many parents struggling with PMADs, including stigma, insurance issues, transportation and childcare challenges, and lack of culturally congruent care.
Under the Moms Matter Act, grants would be issued by EOHHS to these community-based programs, prioritizing historically marginalized communities where care is most needed. We are respectfully requesting funding of this section of the law at the $350,000
level.
Although it is a difficult fiscal year, we also hope that the House can prioritize funding for other provisions of the omnibus law, supporting the Department of Public Health’s important work around midwifery integration, home visiting, pregnancy loss
awareness, and more.
Thank you for your consideration, and for all you do for birthing people and all parents and families in the Commonwealth.
Sincerely,
Accompany Doula Care
AllPaths Family Building
Bay State Birth Coalition*
Better Beginnings Birth Services
Boston Children’s Hospital
Brazelton Touchpoints Center
Cape and Islands Perinatal Wellness Alliance
Chamber of Mothers
Charlene Fraser, Inc.
The Circle of Vietnamese Parents of Greater Boston
The Cord Foundation
D. Legacy Pace Setters
Daughters of Yahweh Community Outreach*
Dorchester CARES Coalition
Ellen Story Commission on Postpartum Depression
The EMA Project*
FamilyWell Health
Fathers’ UpLift
Golden Flor Wellness*
GPS Group Peer Support
Health Care for All
HELD Doula Services
Lifeline for Families Center at UMass Chan Medical School
March of Dimes*
Mass General Brigham
Mass. PPD Fund*
Massachusetts Affiliate of American College of Nurse Midwives
Massachusetts Association of Health Plans Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health
Massachusetts Doula Coalition
Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association
Massachusetts Medical Society
Massachusetts Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Massachusetts Section of the Association
of Women's Health, Obstetrics, and Neonatal Nurses
Melanin Mass Moms
Neighborhood Birth Center
North Shore Postpartum Help
Nurses for Black Maternal Health and Equity Organization
Postpartum Support International of Massachusetts
Propa City Community Outreach*
Sacred Birthing Village South Coast
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Springfield Community-Based Doula Initiative
Women of Color Health Equity Collective
Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts
Vital Village Networks
*Mass. Mind the Gap Coalition Steering Committee Member
View a PDF of this letter here.
