“What needs to happen before we start taking a mother’s mental health seriously after childbirth?” That is one of the questions that has resurfaced around the case of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts woman who is on trial for the deaths of her three young children.
Clancy was a nurse and, months after giving birth to her third child, began receiving care for mental health problems. Her defense argues that she was suffering from severe postpartum depression and psychosis, had been prescribed various medications, and was not in full possession of her faculties when the deaths occurred. The prosecution, by contrast, argues that she knew what she was doing and acted deliberately.
The case has refocused many people’s attention on what happens after having a baby. Although postpartum depression is often discussed, there are less common and much more serious conditions, such as postpartum psychosis, which can cause delusions, hallucinations, and a loss of contact with reality.
None of that diminishes the tragedy of three children who lost their lives. But the trial has also left a difficult question impossible to ignore: are we paying enough attention when a mother says something is not right after giving birth?