Rutgers Study: Women of Color Describe NJ’s Perinatal Care — Progress and Persistent Inequities
A community-led Rutgers Health study interviewed 96 Black and Latina mothers across NJ. Real gains, real gaps — and a model for who should be asking the questions.
A community-partnered study out of Rutgers Health, published in early 2026, examined the pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum experiences of women of color across New Jersey. A research team that included six Black mothers as co-investigators interviewed 96 Black and Latina women who had given birth in the previous two years.
NJ Releases Updated Maternal Health Data: 86.7% of Pregnancy-Related Deaths Were Preventable
Ahead of Maternal Health Awareness Day, NJ’s updated mortality review found nearly 32% of pregnancy-related deaths occurred in labor or the postpartum year — and most could have been prevented.
The New Jersey Department of Health released an updated Maternal Health Hospital Report Card and Mortality Review Committee findings in January 2026, ahead of the state’s Maternal Health Awareness Day. The headline number: 31.7% of pregnancy-related deaths occurred during labor, delivery, or the year after birth — and 86.7% were judged preventable.
Murphy Signs Doula & Midwife Awareness Law as Part of Maternal Health Package
Four new NJ laws expand maternal and infant health — including a statewide public awareness campaign on doula and midwife services across pregnancy and the postpartum year.
In January 2026, Governor Murphy signed four maternal and infant health bills into law. One requires the state to run a public awareness campaign on the benefits of doula and midwife services across prenatal, birthing, and postpartum care — with explicit emphasis on culturally competent care and improving outcomes for Black and Brown families.
New NJ Law: Every Pregnant Patient Must Be Offered a Personalized Postpartum Care Plan
S912/A3887 requires providers to start postpartum planning as early as the first trimester — and to hand patients written postpartum care information before discharge.
Under S912/A3887, NJ health professionals are now required to offer pregnant patients a postpartum planning session — ideally beginning in the first trimester — and to provide written postpartum care information before hospital discharge. The state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee has repeatedly found that most pregnancy-related deaths occur in the postpartum period, often after discharge, when patients aren’t sure what counts as an emergency.
Trenton-Based MIHIA Adds MedTech Innovation Center for Maternal & Infant Health Equity
NJEDA and the Maternal & Infant Health Innovation Authority are launching a MedTech Strategic Innovation Center to advance technologies for maternal and infant health equity.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the Maternal & Infant Health Innovation Authority (MIHIA) are launching a MedTech Strategic Innovation Center inside the Trenton-based Maternal and Infant Innovation Center. The goal: advance technologies — from wearable postpartum monitors to mental-health screening tools — that improve maternal and infant health equity.
Research · Maternal Mental Health
1 in 5 New Mothers Will Experience a Perinatal Mood Disorder
Postpartum depression and anxiety are the most common complications of pregnancy — more common than gestational diabetes. Most cases still go undiagnosed.
Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) affect up to 20% of birthing parents in the United States, according to the CDC and Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance. That makes them more common than gestational diabetes or preeclampsia — and the leading underlying cause of pregnancy-related death in the first year after birth.
New Jersey’s Universal Screening Law: What It Actually Requires
NJ requires perinatal mood screening at OB and pediatric visits. Here’s what that looks like in practice — and what to do if your provider skips it.
New Jersey was one of the first states to require routine screening for perinatal depression at obstetric and pediatric visits. The law applies to providers across the state — including Central NJ communities like Kendall Park, New Brunswick, Princeton, and Edison.
Fathers · Research
Paternal Postpartum Depression Is Real — and Underdiagnosed
About 1 in 10 fathers develop depression in the first year after their child’s birth. It looks different than maternal PPD, and almost no one is screening for it.
Roughly 10% of new fathers develop depression in the first year after a child’s birth, according to meta-analyses in JAMA and Pediatrics. The rate climbs sharply when the mother is also depressed.
Research · Neuroscience
The Postpartum “Hormone Cliff” Is a Real Neurobiological Event
In the days after birth, estrogen and progesterone drop more sharply than in any other normal human event. Researchers are mapping how that reshapes the brain.
Within 72 hours of delivery, estrogen and progesterone fall by roughly 90–99% from their pregnancy peaks. Endocrinologists describe it as the steepest hormone change a healthy adult body ever undergoes — larger in magnitude than menopause, compressed into days.
Where to Get Perinatal Mental Health Care in Central NJ
From the state’s MOMS Helpline to local outpatient programs in Middlesex and Somerset Counties — a starting map for families looking for care.
If you’re looking for perinatal mental health care in Central New Jersey, three places are worth knowing first. The NJ MOMS Helpline (1-800-328-3838) provides free, confidential support and referrals to local providers, including specialists trained in perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Postpartum Support International’s warmline (1-800-944-4773) is national but routes to NJ coordinators.
Education · Postpartum Anxiety
Scary Intrusive Thoughts Are a Symptom — Not a Warning About You
Up to 90% of new parents report unwanted, intrusive thoughts about harm coming to the baby. Knowing what they are — and aren’t — changes everything.
Research consistently finds that the vast majority of new parents experience unwanted, intrusive thoughts about something bad happening to the baby — dropping them, the stairs, the bath, the knife on the counter. These thoughts are ego-dystonic: they horrify the person having them, which is the opposite of how someone planning harm would feel.
The Fourth Trimester shares education, not medical advice. If you’re in crisis, call or text 988. For perinatal support any time, call PSI at 1-800-944-4773 or the NJ MOMS Helpline at 1-800-328-3838.