{
  "abstract": "Background: In 2024, a new program called Rx Kids began providing unconditional cash transfers to all expectant mothers and infants in Flint, Michigan. Through a lump sum payment provided mid-pregnancy and monthly payments for up to a year after birth, the place-based maternal and infant health program is aimed at providing economic stability to improve the health, hope, and happiness of mothers and newborns.\n\nObjective: This study examined how mothers who had received Rx Kids cash transfers discussed perceived impacts on their perinatal mental health while participating in the program.\n\nDesign: Qualitative.\n\nMethods: Thematic analysis was used to analyze interviews conducted between July and October 2025 with 46 mothers from Flint, Michigan, who participated in the Rx Kids program. Conceptual frameworks from medical anthropology and psychology were utilized to interpret their narratives.\n\nResults: Three dominant themes emerged pertaining to mothers’ experiences of perinatal mental health in the context of receiving Rx Kids cash transfers: 1) financial relief and perinatal well-being; 2) postpartum time affluence; and 3) program communication as a form of care.\n\nConclusion: For mothers in Flint, Michigan, financial concerns play a central role in their narratives of their perinatal mental health struggles with stress and postpartum depression. Analyzing their descriptions of perceived shifts, adaptions and relief associated with their participation in Rx Kids, we find that the program was often depicted as equally impactful in terms of improving mothers’ mental health as it was in easing financial pressures.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Caroline Doenmez"
    },
    {
      "name": "Crystal Cederna"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mona Hanna"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6xc66cc4qxsbt.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.31234/osf.io/jkvy2_v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "6xc66cc4qxsbt",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/jkvy2_v1/",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "bepress",
      "Clinical Psychology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Depressive Disorders"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Social and Behavioral Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2739|Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213841045",
  "pdf_url": "https://osf.io/jkvy2/download",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-24",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6xc66cc4qxsbt.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:23:36Z",
      "native_id": "jkvy2",
      "source": "osf",
      "url": "https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/jkvy2_v1/"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "bepress:Clinical Psychology",
      "subfield": "psychiatry"
    }
  ],
  "title": "“A Freeing of My Mind”: Narrative Accounts of Perinatal Mental Health in the Context of Rx Kids, a Prenatal and Infant Unconditional Cash Transfer Program",
  "title_text": "“A Freeing of My Mind”: Narrative Accounts of Perinatal Mental Health in the Context of Rx Kids, a Prenatal and Infant Unconditional Cash Transfer Program",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:23:36Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6xc66cc4qxsbt",
  "venue": "PsyArXiv",
  "versions": []
}