When Mothers Ask for Help: Harris Poll finds Gaps in Maternal Care, with Questions for Rhode Island

A new national study highlights inadequate postpartum support, barriers to treatment and a call for continued care. The Lindsay Clancy case brings a Rhode Island connection to the discussion.

More than half of women who reported experiencing postpartum mental health issues received subpar or no support, according to findings released by The Harris Poll—a troubling measure of what can happen after childbirth, when a mother’s own needs may receive less attention.

The new report, published September 10th, State of Maternal Health in America 2026, examines women’s experiences with pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum recovery. Its findings describe gaps in mental health support, patient education, access to care and follow-up.

The concerns extend across the maternal healthcare experience. Eighty-eight percent of women say more needs to be done to make childbirth safer in the United States, up from 83% in 2024.

For Rhode Island, the findings offer a starting point for examining how women receive help during labor, after delivery and when mental health symptoms develop.

The issue also has a local connection through Women & Infants Hospital, which is named in a Lindsay Clancy civil lawsuit alleging failures in her care.

At every stage, a fundamental question deserves attention: When a mother asks for help, what happens next?

What the study found

According to the study summary supplied by The Harris Poll:

• 36% of women who are or have been pregnant reported a mental health diagnosis during their pregnancy journey. Anxiety, reported by 25%, and depression, reported by 22%, were the most common.
• 56% experienced postpartum mental health issues. Among those women, 52% received subpar or no support.
• 60% of women said women like them must fight to obtain needed medical care.
• 42% of women who are or have been pregnant faced barriers to needed pregnancy or childbirth care.
• 65% of women who have been pregnant want providers to proactively discuss postpartum depression during prenatal visits. Yet 46% received insufficient or no postpartum depression information or resources from their provider.
• 86% of women said more postpartum follow-up should be standard care.

These findings reflect respondents’ reported experiences and opinions. Experiencing postpartum mental health issues is a broader category than receiving a clinical diagnosis. The national findings also should not be read as measurements of an individual hospital or of Rhode Island specifically.

“Maternal health is no longer a niche issue. Our research shows that millions of women are navigating pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum recovery while facing gaps in care, support, and information,” said Christina Lojek, senior research manager at The Harris Poll.

“If we want better outcomes for mothers and babies, we need to stop treating maternal care as something that ends at delivery and start building a system that supports women, physically, emotionally, and practically, before, during, and long after childbirth.”

Read The Harris Poll’s maternal health report.

The Clancy case: A Rhode Island connection

The January 2023 deaths of Lindsay Clancy’s three children—Cora, Dawson and Callan—brought intense attention to maternal mental illness and the treatment Clancy received before their deaths.

Her criminal trial ended in a mistrial on September 4. Her defense argued that she was experiencing postpartum psychosis and lacked criminal responsibility; prosecutors disputed that position. The mistrial did not resolve those competing arguments.

A separate civil complaint names Women & Infants Hospital among the providers alleged to have failed in her care.

According to the complaint, Clancy underwent a telehealth intake for the hospital’s Day Hospital program in December 2022. It alleges that concerns about benzodiazepine use and possible dependence led staff to consider her inappropriate for the program, and that staff failed to communicate adequately with her referring provider.

Those are allegations in a lawsuit, not established findings of negligence. Women & Infants is not making public comment due to the pending legal action.

They bring a specific question into focus: When one program cannot meet a patient’s needs, who makes sure she reaches appropriate care elsewhere?

Women & Infants currently offers a specialized Day Hospital for pregnant and postpartum patients who need more support than typical outpatient treatment. Patients receive care during the day, may bring their babies, and return home afterward. Having a service available is one part of access. Another is helping a mother reach it—or an appropriate alternative—while ensuring that someone remains responsible for follow-up.

Understanding postpartum mental illness

The distinctions between postpartum conditions matter. The “baby blues” generally involve mild, short-lived mood changes during the first two weeks after childbirth. Postpartum depression can involve persistent sadness, anxiety, hopelessness and difficulty functioning. Treatment can help.

Postpartum psychosis is a psychiatric emergency that can involve hallucinations, delusions, mania or confusion and requires immediate medical attention.

The Clancy case should not become the defining image of postpartum depression. Women and families need clear information about symptoms, treatment and recovery—and encouragement to seek help.

Going into labor when there is no labor room available

The access question also begins much earlier: when a woman arrives at the hospital in labor. What happens when her birth plan includes an epidural—or she requests one as labor progresses—but she is still waiting for a labor room?

Can pain treatment begin in obstetric triage or the emergency department? If an epidural cannot be provided there, what alternatives are available, and how is that limitation explained?

Women & Infants lists epidural anesthesia, nitrous oxide and injectable pain medication among its labor pain relief options. Its patient information describes evaluation in obstetric triage and admission according to medical need and priority. However, the public information reviewed does not explain whether epidurals can be administered in triage when labor rooms are full. Patients indicate they are told they can not.

This deserves a clear, public answer.

Women should know before labor begins whether access to an epidural depends on obtaining a labor room—and what the hospital will do if no room is available. Learning about such a limitation at the height of labor leaves little opportunity to understand alternatives or prepare for a change in plans.

The question is particularly important when a woman’s labor progresses while she waits. MaineHealth’s patient guidance notes that when delivery is only minutes away, there may no longer be adequate time for an epidural to take effect. That does not establish why an individual patient misses that opportunity, but it underscores why the timing of assessment and treatment matters.

The extreme anxiety of a planned birth gone “awry” for what may seem as pedantic, and non-sensical seems entirely avoidable – with some direct planning. Women & Infants often touts their new labor and delivery rooms, but accessing them – too few – not enough staff – units closed – should be under question.

A Maine example worth examining

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Portland operates a dedicated obstetric emergency department open around the clock. The Obstetric Emergency Department (OB ED) at Maine Medical Center is a specialized, 24/7 clinical unit designed specifically for pregnant patients who require immediate evaluation or are waiting for a main Labor and Delivery room to open. Staffed by board-certified obstetricians and specialized labor and delivery nurses, this dedicated space allows expecting mothers to bypass the general emergency room entirely. Within these private, fully equipped emergency medical bays, the team can monitor fetal health, manage active labor, and safely administer advanced pain management—including epidurals—ensuring continuous, specialized obstetric care even during peak hospital volumes.

Maine’s program therefore offers a model worth examining for how emergency assessment, specialty care and labor services connect. It is not yet a verified example of solving the specific problem of epidural access while waiting for a room.

While Women & Infants Hospital in Providence does have a dedicated Emergency Department for obstetric triage, their strict clinical policy dictates that epidurals are only administered once a patient is admitted to a formal Labor & Delivery room (LDR). If a laboring mother is waiting in their emergency triage area due to high volumes, the staff can offer options like nitrous oxide or IV pain medication, but they will not place an epidural until the patient is moved to a private birthing suite.

The Real Difference: Infrastructure vs. Specialization

• MMC built their OB ED beds to functionally double as ICU-level labor bays with dedicated anesthesiology staffing built directly into the unit.
• Many standalone maternity hospitals instead route all their funding into making their formal LDR suites larger and more advanced, leaving their triage rooms strictly as small, temporary screening spaces

One would think – if not expect – a specialized, standalone maternity hospital like Women & Infants Hospital—where every single resource is dedicated strictly to childbirth—would be the exact place equipped to give an epidural anywhere, at any time.

The report’s recommendations

Under its “Path Forward for Maternal Health,” the Harris report sets out a broad goal: building a maternal healthcare system that supports women throughout the entire journey.

Its recommendation headings identify five priorities:

• Integrate maternal mental health into standard maternal care.
• Empower women through education and shared decision-making.
• Improve access to high-quality, patient-centered care.
• Reimagine postpartum care.
• Expand maternal health benefits and family supports.

These priorities bring the discussion back to the needs women identified in the survey: more information, better access, meaningful participation in decisions and support that continues after delivery.

For Rhode Island, they provide a framework for examining both mental health referrals and the practical experience of obtaining care inside a maternity hospital.

A local proposal

RINewsToday suggests a specific priority for future planning and investment at Women & Infants: evaluate whether designated triage or overflow rooms could be equipped and staffed to provide epidural care safely when labor rooms are full.

That evaluation would need to address anesthesia availability, nursing coverage, monitoring and emergency support alongside the dedicated physical space. It should establish what is possible, what prevents it now, and what changes would be required.

The same expectation of follow-through applies after childbirth. When a mother needs mental health treatment, she should know who is responding, what happens next, and whom to contact if she is getting worse.

The Harris survey cannot determine responsibility in the Clancy case or establish an individual hospital’s performance. It does show women reporting unmet needs across the maternal healthcare experience.

Encouraging mothers to ask for help carries a corresponding responsibility to listen, assess and act.

A full labor unit is a situation a hospital can plan for. Women deserve to know the plan before they need it.

We only looked at the state’s dedicated hospital for labor and delivery – other hospitals in the state may have addressed the situation.

Where to find help

The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline provides free, confidential support 24 hours a day. Call or text 1-833-852-6262.

For a mental health crisis, call or text 988. For immediate danger or symptoms of postpartum psychosis, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.