First Lady Chirlane McCray said on Tuesday that all new moms at public hospitals in New York City and a major Brooklyn hospital will have to go for screening for maternal depression.

The city’s Health and Hospitals, running 11 hospitals, and Maimonides Medical Center, which together handle a quarter of births in the city, have promised to make the depression checks for pregnant women and new mothers universal in a time span of two years.

At Bellevue Hospital, McCray said, “Despite great benefit it provides, screening for post-partum depression has not been part of woman’s routine care. Asking for help during what is considered to be one of most joyous periods in a parent’s life can be difficult. It can be daunting”.

She said that there is no woman who wants to become a bad mother, but depression along with stigma and fear of being called a bad mom can keep women away from asking for the help they require.

The Greater New York Hospital Association is putting in efforts to bring other hospitals on board, and the ultimate goal of the city is universal screening. Roughly 1 in 10 women have post-partum depression, which means 12,000 to 15,000 cases per year in the city.

The screening includes a brief questionnaire that is asked by doctors to check for depression symptoms. This is the first new program to be launched under a mental health roadmap McCray is trying to develop.

Paige Bellenbaum, a Brooklyn mom, said that in 2006, when she gave birth to her son Max, she has gone into extreme depression and even thought of committing suicide.