While maternal health is a recognized public health crisis in the United States, mental health, substance misuse, and substance use disorder (SUD) are often overlooked as part of the crisis. Mental health conditions, substance misuse, and SUD that occur during the perinatal period (before, during, and up to one year after pregnancy) are the leading cause of maternal mortality. Unfortunately, barriers to care result in poor health outcomes for parents and their children, and, while growing, limited clinical research on effective interventions in this area results in fewer opportunities for prevention.
