The Cost of Motherhood: Maternal Mental Health

Words by Emily Barasch

During one portion of Patrick Clancy’s testimony, the prosecution asked him if their family's insurance refused to cover Lindsay’s visit to McLean, the famous Boston-area mental hospital that counts Sylvia Plath, David Foster Wallace, and Selena Gomez as former patients. (In case you’ve been living on a blissfully-offline rock, Lindsay is on trial for the murder of their three young children, after which she attempted suicide herself and is now paralyzed from the waist down—a case that is bringing postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis into the national conversation.) Patrick, who seemed clipped and almost numb, looks straight at the prosecutor and says: “I would have paid anything.”

That kind of hindsight with such a severe case like Lindsay’s and the consequences it wrought makes the utmost sense. But what about the rest of us? Would you pay anything to feel good, to feel free, to feel even just fine? Of course not. You—we can't.

We live in the only industrialized country that doesn’t mandate federal maternity leave. We have a healthcare system that is complicated, costly, and bureaucratic. As Dr. Isobel Rosenthal, a board-certified psychiatrist who specializes in maternal mental health, told me, "there's also a huge shortage in behavioral health providers, and specialists in this area in particular, which drives up the cost." Our childcare bills, too, are astronomical with no federally provided help or guidance. An escape hatch from survival mode is as luxe and stratified as a leather appointment at Hermés.

We set women, and therefore, men and children up to fail and then we stigmatize the diseases—postpartum depression, anxiety, PTSD, and psychosis—that are exacerbated by these systems. And it feels like our taxpayer money seems to going to anything and everything—war, prosecuting and jailing the mentally ill, a new ballroom at the White House—instead of building apparatuses that allow for even the most minimal success. 

The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health awarded the overall U.S. grade a C in 2026, a slight improvement from C- last year.  As in prior years, no states received A's. (In 2023, the year Lindsay killed her children, the overall average was a D and her state Massachusetts had a C.) 

We pulled the curtain back and asked moms (and moms-to-be) about how they’re feeling; what they’re doing about how they’re feeling; and how it costs to maintain good maternal mental health. The answers we got revealed the complexity, work, and thought that maintaining sanity as moms in 2026 required: 

“I am four months postpartum with my second baby. Currently, I feel like I’m sitting on the sand surrounded by love while waiting for the next wave of self-loathing, intense anxiety, rage or ambivalence to hit. So, not great but not horrible!,” said one mom who pays between $500-$1,000 to maintain her mental health. “Therapy is $120 per session (‘free’ with insurance for now). No psychiatrist or meds but I do take a ton of supplements in hopes of them helping with mood regulation. I also try to eat well. All of that together puts me at about $700 per month.”

“As someone with access and ability to afford resources and support I have still found this postpartum season incredibly challenging. I cannot imagine navigating it without a partner, financial resources and a support system in friends and family, and I know that is the reality for many women.

“It is isolating, emotionally and physically challenging, and there are no systems set up to support mothers. The onus is exclusively on the struggling mother to assess her needs and seek the support she thinks will help. There is also no system in place to guide partners on how best to support their birthing partners. Even a dialed in partner will often lack the understanding and not have been educated on the full breadth of what their birthing partner is experiencing postpartum and the potential ways that they can support them."

- A postpartum working mom who spends over $1,000 on maternal mental health as well as additional funds on childcare, couples therapy, and exercise. 

“My mental health is not great. I was hospitalized with postpartum preeclampsia and have postpartum thyroiditis. I am very frustrated being unwell while trying to care for my baby. I take anti anxiety medication. I had to take extended short term disability and my company doesn’t pay my full paycheck, so a few thousand of lost salary There’s no single postpartum expert. Tossed between OB and PCP. Hard to determine if it’s a mental health issue or physical issue (hormones). With postpartum thyroiditis, it’s both. 

I spend $140 every 2 weeks for therapy. $25 copay for psychiatrist. $75 every week for somatic healing. $90 every 2 weeks for acupuncture. Insurance, which costs $250, covers pills.”

- A mom who recently gave birth and spends $100-$500 on her mental health.

Jessica (not her real name) is a pregnant Bronx-based mom with a two-year old who described her mental health as “in shambles.” She reported “excessive anxiety or worry, difficulty sleeping (even when the baby slept), increased irritability or anger, and difficulty concentrating.” When asked about getting mental health help,  Jessica (who is on Medicaid) did try to get therapy after she had my daughter pre-term at 30 weeks: “But at the time I did not have the best resources available to me, we do live in the Bronx so you’d have to go out of the way to access a good therapist.” 

One mom of toddler-aged kids who spends nothing on mental health pointed out, “Personally I feel like the conversation of mental health even is such a privilege. Transparently as the primary financial provider and often a solo parent due to both of us traveling for work, I don't feel as though I have the bandwidth to consider what mental health support would look like. I do think there are certain periods of time like fertility, TTC, and  immediate postpartum should have more allowances for this but unfortunately they don't.” 

But another mom with toddler-aged kids who spends $100-500 on her mental health said: “Coming out of the fog, grateful, anxious and/or content depending on the day. It’s a constant journey and has not been a straight line. The state of my mental health is so dependent on external factors and at times that feels so out of my control.  It’s a constant battle to keep things running smoothly. Mental health is always top of mind.” 

“The cycle of stress builds and builds,” a mom more than five years postpartum who spends between $500 and $1,000 on her mental health told us. “I wish so much there was a bigger village of support for childcare outside of the traditional daycare facility structure. “The biggest barrier was taking the initial steps. Admitting that I needed help. And then finding the time for it.“

“My mental health depends on the day but I did start anxiety meds in January which has been very helpful! Life changing! [But] it’s really expensive but essential in order to not be depressed and moody and exhausted all the time!!!” says a toddler-aged mom with increased irritability or anger and difficulty concentrating. She spends at least $600 dollars a month on therapy and psychiatry.

“As the birth person/mother and sole financial provider of the family, it’s impossible to detail and quantify the daily cost of being a mother and the toll it takes on my mental health. Also: Birth/Newborn Expenses below that I tracked:

$4500 - Birth Doula

$2210 - Postpartum Doula x 25 hours

$2150 - Night Nurse x 5 nights

$1000 - frozen Egg storage per year

$900 - Childbirth / newborn care classes

$800 - IBCLC x4 travel fee

$900 - Tongue tie release procedure

$825 - Craniosacral bodywork for baby x3

$850 - 16 week scan

$750 - Sleepy on Hudson consultant

$750 - Lenox hill costs

$400 - Baby Bella newborn photos

$380 - Night Nurse x 1

$375 - Placenta encapsulation

$300 - Snoo bassinet second hand

$300 - Massage at home for me

$300 - Nanit Baby Monitor

$350 - Humidifiers

$340 - Taking Cara Babies courses

$300 - prenatal / postnatal vitamins

$200 - Huckleberry app, Wonder Weeks app, Decibel app

$200 - breastfeeding support vitamins

$200 - Car seat

$200 - Blackout curtains

$100 - baby Hamper & Liner

$100 - My Brest Friend pillow

Does not including nursing bras & tops, bottles, pacifiers, nursing cups, or any baby supplies such as diapers & wipes, diaper pads & balm, diaper bags, lotion/wash, bath towels & supplies, medicine, & other random supplies such as the all weather carrier cover, swaddles, Nanit sound & light machine, bassinet adapters, waterproof crib mattress cover, Ubers to appointments and more.”

- A postpartum stay-at-home mom currently experiencing PPD and PPA 

“It’s overwhelming and we’re basically going broke trying to keep me in therapy and childcare and we both work full time. I knew I was already at risk for a PMAD so I tried a lot of therapy, acupuncture, exercise, and hired a doula during my pregnancy (running thousands of dollars). Unfortunately PPD hit pretty immediately and I started reaching out to doctors saying I wasn’t doing well and they kept telling me it was just the baby blues. It was only after a postpartum doula came to our house and validated that what she was seeing was more extreme than just baby blues and set me up with the php program. I’m extremely lucky I was able to go during my maternity leave and insurance covered most of it. If you don’t have a village any type of care costs so much to make up for that lack of a village. I don’t know how anyone can keep it up. It’s impossible, unfair, and tragic. Moms deserve better.

I went to a PHP (partial hospitalization program) immediately postpartum and had to pay the rest of my deductible which was $600, otherwise it would have cost $2k/week and I was there for 8 weeks. Therapist costs $175/session and psychiatrist costs $300/session. I currently take Lexapro ($20/month) and Adderall when I’m able to get it filled so $10/month. Therapy is $800 monthly and my mental health providers are considered out of network (my out of network deductible is $19k). I also do pelvic floor PT and/or acupuncture but I’m not always able to find time or afford them.

- A postpartum mom who spends over $1,000 a month. 

Emily Barasch is the Senior Editor at Spread the Jelly. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two sons. She has contributed to Vogue, Into the Gloss, Romper, Violet Book, The Coveteur,and Hey Alma. She has a Substack called The Mom News.