What to know about postpartum psychosis, which can affect a new mom’s sense of reality
Summary
A Massachusetts woman, Lindsay Clancy, is on trial for killing her three children in 2023. The trial focuses on whether postpartum psychosis, a rare but serious mental illness after childbirth, caused her actions.Key Facts
- Lindsay Clancy is charged with killing her three children aged 5 and younger by strangulation.
- The trial debates if postpartum psychosis affected her responsibility for the crime.
- Postpartum psychosis affects about 1 to 2 out of every 1,000 new mothers.
- This condition can cause hallucinations, delusions, and strange behavior shortly after birth.
- It is different from postpartum depression and baby blues, which are more common but less severe.
- Half of those with postpartum psychosis may have a history of psychiatric illness, often bipolar disorder.
- Mothers with severe postpartum psychosis may harm themselves or their children.
- Treatment usually requires hospital care, sometimes against the patient’s will, to keep mother and baby safe.
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