Clancy trial spotlights gaps in postpartum psychosis care
Why it matters: Advocates say the rare illness affects about 1 in 1,000 women, but stigma and poor provider training can delay treatment.
The murder trial of Lindsay Clancy has become a broader referendum on postpartum mental health care in the United States, shifting attention beyond the 2023 killings of her children to failures in diagnosis and treatment. Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, does not deny the killings, but her defense argues she was experiencing postpartum psychosis and did not receive adequate care. Prosecutors’ experts have disputed that diagnosis and say she is criminally responsible. As the Massachusetts trial nears its final stages, advocates and psychiatrists say the case has exposed barriers including stigma, limited research and weak provider education around a condition that affects about one in 1,000 women after childbirth.