The law's enactment was marked on Capitol Hill Thursday.
Melanie Stokes jumped to her death from a hotel window in Chicago in 2001, six weeks after having a baby.
Stokes's mother, Carol Blocker, has been on a mission to prevent this from happening to others.
"I felt that if something like this could make Melanie change in the manner she had that I was going to walk every step that I could to expose this mysterious illness," said Blocker.
Blocker joined the co-author of the legislation, Congressman Bobby Rush, to celebrate the law.
"This is a day, as we stand on the threshold of Mother's Day, the Congress of the United States, the American Government can give a Mother's Day present that can keep on giving," said Rep. Rush (D-Chicago).
The act was signed into law as part of the healthcare bill. It provides federal funding for education and research.
