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Woman’s Hospital issued permit for construction of perinatal mental health unit

Contractors were granted permits last week to begin construction of Woman’s Hospital’s planned perinatal mental health unit, which would become the first inpatient mental health unit in Louisiana to focus solely on the needs of pregnant and postpartum women.

Arkel Constructors is the contractor on the $4.6 million project. The unit will be constructed on the hospital’s fourth floor in existing shell space, and it is expected to open in September.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, maternal mental health disorders are the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. and more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Anxiety, birth-related PTSD and perinatal and postpartum depression are among the most common complications of pregnancy and childbirth, affecting one in five women. Seventy-five percent of those affected go untreated.

These issues are even more pronounced in Louisiana, which has the fifth-highest maternal mortality rate in the country with 39 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

In 2021, the Legislature established the Louisiana Maternal Mental Health Task Force with a goal of improving maternal mental health care in the state. One of the task force’s findings was that perinatal mental and anxiety disorders have an annual economic impact of at least $312 million, while their human costs “cannot be quantified.”

Once completed, Woman’s Hospital’s 10-bed perinatal unit will allow mothers time with their newborns while among others who are facing similar challenges, which the hospital says is a critical step in the postpartum healing process.


This story originally appeared in a Feb. 15 issue of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.