Half of Women With Postpartum Mental Health Challenges Report Little or No Support
The Harris Poll released its fourth annual State of Maternal Health in America report. It surveyed 4,154 US adults and found that support tends to thin out at the point where women need it most.
Most healthcare research measures whether people got treatment. This one measures whether they were prepared, supported, and followed up with, and the answers get worse the further past delivery you look.
What the Study Found
More than half of women who experienced postpartum mental health challenges, 52 percent, report receiving subpar support or no support at all. Nearly nine in ten, 86 percent, believe more postpartum follow-up belongs in standard care.
Breastfeeding follows the same shape. Fifty-seven percent of women experienced breastfeeding challenges after birth, and many report difficulty reaching the resources and support they needed to meet their own goals.
The report’s own summary names the pattern behind those numbers. Women describe a system that “often prioritizes treatment over preparation and delivery over recovery,” and one that is “reactive rather than proactive.” Complications, mental health challenges, information gaps and access barriers all show up in the data, and support falls away at the moments it is needed most.
One number moved in the direction you would want and still says something uncomfortable. Nearly nine in ten women, 88 percent, believe more can be done to make childbirth safer in the United States, up from 83 percent in 2024. Agreement on the problem is rising faster than the fixes are arriving.
The study also reports significant differences by age, race, ethnicity and provider type, which is to say the experience is not the same depending on who is having it.
Four Years of Asking the Same Questions
What does a fourth consecutive wave buy you that a single survey does not? Direction. The Harris Poll notes that awareness of some maternal health issues has risen in recent years while the gaps in how women are informed, supported and cared for have not closed at the same rate.
Christina Lojek, a Research Manager at The Harris Poll, frames the purpose of the work as highlighting gaps in patient care, education and experience, and putting solutions in front of the policy makers, providers, payors and partners who can act on them.
That framing matters for how the numbers get read. This is tracking research built to be used by the people who fund and deliver care, rather than a one-off headline.
Methodology
The Harris Poll conducted this wave online between March 24 and 30, 2026, among 4,154 US adults aged 18 and over. Of those, 2,327 are women, and 1,516 are currently pregnant or have ever been pregnant. Figures cited above draw on that pregnant-or-previously-pregnant base where the question applies to it.
About The Harris Poll
The Harris Poll is a global public opinion and market research firm and a Stagwell company. The State of Maternal Health in America is its annual US study of maternal health experiences, now in its fourth year, covering pregnancy complications, maternal mental health, access to care, patient experience, information and education gaps, postpartum care, breastfeeding support, and coverage and leave. The full State of Maternal Health in America report is available from The Harris Poll.