A woman came into triage with her 6-week-old baby, terrified. She had little support at home and was worried about caring for her new baby alone. Exhausted, she feared she might harm herself, and so she did what she had been told to do: She called her doctor.

Up to 1 in 5 women suffer from mental health or substance use disorders during pregnancy or in the year after they give birth. However, many do not seek help. This patient did. Of course, her doctor was concerned and recommended she go to the emergency room. This was the only suggestion the doctor had been trained to give for what to tell patients in a crisis like this.

I was the technician working in the emergency room who greeted her. I was directed to follow the standard procedure, which began with taking her directly to a room

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