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Jessica Vanerka
Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
1 December 2014
Forcing Tests upon Women
New mothers killing their children, new mothers leaving their families, new mothers
killing themselvesthese are some of the most horrific effects of postpartum depression.
Postpartum depression can be a moderate to severe form of depression new mothers get from the
moment they give birth until around the babys first birthday; it affects not only the mother, but
also the new baby, the father, and the entire family. New studies have shown that there may be a
way to screen for postpartum depression at the hospital in order to catch severe cases and avoid
the tragedies that may occur. However, these tests cost a fortune, dont always help and a lot of
the time are unbelievably hard to have done. Although screening for this form of depression
seems like an outstanding idea, the screenings are way too expensive to have done and in most
cases cause more harm than good.
Going through questionnaires makes most people think about and possibly reevaluate
their life, so now imagine a mother having the stress of a new baby, and trying to fill out forms
and answer questions about if she is danger of having postpartum depression. Brett Thombs, a
William Dawson scholar and associate professor in the facility of medicine at McGill University
argues that the screenings can only cause more harm than they can help. The screenings have the
patient go through numerous question and answer sessions and in the end only few patients come
out positive for the depression. These tests are even subject to numerous amounts of inaccuracies
that can be detrimental to a mother. Thombs also goes on to talk about when doctors have been

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able to use screenings to diagnose mothers with postpartum depression, the screenings have done
nothing to help to improve the depressions outcomethe mothers were just told that they had
the depression. Ann M. Rhodes, a nurse and a lawyer who specializes in maternal-child health
care and health policy, discusses the fact that there is no mandated treatment for mothers
diagnosed with the depression. Rhodes states, State legislation dealing with postpartum
depression is a relatively recent phenomenon, but momentum appears to be building. No state
has mandated treatment following screening. Basically what she is saying is that although a few
states have begun to force these screenings upon women, none of the legislators understand the
severity of having postpartum, and because of this no states have forced a women to go through
treatment for their depression. Although throughout the article Rhodes is on the fence about the
screenings, she knows that if the screenings are going to be made mandatory, there needs to be a
treatment plan set in place in order to help these families with the newly found depression.
Not only is there a lot of stress going into having a baby, but the cost of having a new
baby is a large sum of money, even before the normal hospital bills, and now some states are
considering forcing new mothers to go through intense, costly screenings in order to hopefully
prevent postpartum depression. New Jersey was the first state to enforce this mandatory
screening, and they have found that the screenings arent even worth the money. Katy
Kozhimannil, an assistant professor at the University Of Minnesota School Of Public Health
discusses New Jersey forcing women to be screened for postpartum depression after giving
birth. New Jersey was right when they stated that postpartum depression goes unnoticed way too
often, however their problem with helping those with the depression came in the form of money.
The screenings for postpartum are extremely expensive and Medicaid for new mothers ends 60
days after giving birth (Kozhimannil). Since postpartum can appear anytime from the time a

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woman gives birth until usually around when the child is a year old (365 days later) Medicaid
leaves a new mother with 305 days of either being uninsured or back to their previous insurance,
and most insurances dont cover the screenings for postpartum depression. Those who wish to
get screened after the 60 days have a hard time finding doctors to go to that preform screenings
because [p]roviders are not always located nearby and they do not always accept new patients,
have appointments available or speak a womans language (Kozhimannil). This is further
justifying the fact that it isnt possible for a lot of women to get their screenings done because of
lack of resources to get them. In order to attempt to make the screenings available to more
women, The Affordable Care Act contains provisions that expand research on postpartum
depression and evaluate service models (Rhodes). Since Rhodes is partially in favor of the test
she chooses to discuss ways in which the screenings are slowly becoming more available.
Even with the enormous costs and the fact that the screenings dont always work, the
overall idea of the screenings seems like a really good idea and a lot of people still argue for
them. Katherine L. Wisner, the Norman and Helen Asher professor of psychiatry and behavioral
sciences and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, is one of
those strong supporter of the screenings on new mothers. Wisner states, Maternal depression
increases the risk for offspring with impaired mental and motor development, difficult
temperament, poor self-control, low self-esteem and behavior problems. She is pointing out
what can go wrong with a child who has a mother that has postpartum depression, however, she
leaves out the fact that these children still are born with these problems in some cases because
women arent screened until after they give birth and that the screenings do not actually treat the
depression. Wisner later argues the fact that if a mother has the depression, there is more of a
chance for her children to have depression. Though I concede that the children are a lot more

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likely to have depression, the screenings, again, wont help the children because the screenings
just verify that the mother has the depression. Once verified, the mother can be placed into
treatment and hopefully find a cure for their depression, but still it doesnt help the children.
While these tests seem like such a great idea to have, now is not the time to make these
tests mandatory. There are not enough good things coming out of the screenings to enforce them.
The tests should not be gotten rid of completely, if someone wants to have them done they
should be optional, and research should be continued in order to improve these tests and in turn
lessen the cost of them making them available to those of all economic statuses. Once further
research is done and the tests become better and more useful, that is when these tests should
become an encouraged thingbut never mandatory. Some still will choose to not have it done
because they do not believe it helps but one should never be forced to do something that they do
not want to do when it comes to their body and their children.

Works Cited
Kozhimannil, Katy. Access to Care Must Come With Screening for Postpartum Depression.

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New York Times: Room for Debate. New York Times Company, 19 June. 14. Web. 13
Nov. 14.
Rhodes, Ann. Education About the Nature and Consequences of Postpartum Depression Is
Needed. New York Times: Room for Debate. New York Times Company, 19 June. 14.
Web. 13 Nov. 14.
Thombs, Brett. Widespread Screenings for Postpartum Depression Is Premature and Possibly
Harmful. New York Times: Room for Debate. New York Times Company, 20 June. 24.
Web. 13 Nov. 14.
Wisner, Katherine. Screening for Paternal Depression Should Be Mandatory. New York Times:
Room for Debate. New York Times Company, 20 June. 14. Web. 13 Nov. 14.