A mistrial and a renewed focus on postpartum mental health

The trial of Lindsay Clancy, a former Massachusetts nurse charged in the 2023 deaths of her three children, ended in a mistrial last week after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict, as reported by multiple outlets including The 19th* and the Anchorage Daily News. Both sides agreed that Clancy killed her children and then attempted to take her own life by jumping from a second-floor window; she is now paralyzed from the waist down. Her attorneys argued she could not be held criminally responsible because she suffered from postpartum psychosis, while prosecutors said she should be found guilty because evidence indicated she knew what she was doing was wrong.

The case has put a renewed spotlight on postpartum psychosis, a severe psychiatric condition that researchers say affects roughly one or two out of every 1,000 women, according to The 19th*. The outlet also reported that the prevalence rises to 1 in 6 for people diagnosed with bipolar disorder and 1 in 3 for those with a history of postpartum psychosis.

Governor proposes universal nurse home visits

On Tuesday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey proposed providing free home visits by nurses to all parents with newborns, as well as updated regulations governing mental health screening of new mothers. Speaking during a visit to Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Healey said, "To every mom who has struggled with her mental health before, during or after pregnancy, I want you to know we see you — I see you," as quoted by the Anchorage Daily News and other outlets.

Healey said she plans to ask state lawmakers to approve $2 million for a program that would offer nurse visits to all families welcoming the roughly 68,000 newborns in Massachusetts each year. The visits would be voluntary, with nurses answering questions about feeding, sleep, and baby care, while also monitoring mothers' postpartum health and screening for depression and other mental health concerns. This would mark the first state investment in a federally funded program that currently provides nurse visits to about 3,000 families each year, Healey said.

In addition, Healey proposed a $250,000 investment in the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program for Moms and directed the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to update regulations on perinatal mental health screenings. The governor's proposal builds on a maternal health law she signed in 2024 that expanded access to doulas, midwives, and birth centers, and required insurers to cover postpartum depression screenings.

Data on maternal mental health

According to the state's maternal mortality review committee, mental illness, including substance use disorder, was the leading underlying cause of death for pregnant women and new mothers in Massachusetts from 2019 through 2024, accounting for 38% of such deaths. The committee also concluded that 85% of maternal deaths during that period were preventable, and more than half occurred between seven days and one year after giving birth, as reported by outlets including the Baltimore Sun and The Mercury News.

Massachusetts has long been a national leader in expanding access to health care, with one of the lowest uninsured rates in the U.S. Its landmark 2006 health care law became a model for key parts of the federal Affordable Care Act.

Calls for a distinct diagnosis

In the wake of the trial, some researchers are pushing for changes in how postpartum psychosis is classified and studied. The 19th* reported that postpartum psychosis is not currently recognized as a distinct illness under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Dr. Veerle Bergink, director of Mount Sinai's Women's Mental Health Center, is among a group of researchers who issued a consensus statement this year before the trial, seeking a distinct classification for postpartum psychosis within the DSM's bipolar disorders chapter.

Bergink noted that Clancy was given antidepressants and sleep medications that may have worsened her symptoms, as reported by The 19th*. Sidra Goldman-Mellor, a psychiatric epidemiologist and associate professor of public health at the University of California, Merced, was also quoted by the outlet, which emphasized that the condition is treatable when diagnosed early.

Broader conversations and resources

Beyond the policy response, the trial has sparked conversations about postpartum mental health. In a special edition, France 24's program featured an interview with Meghan Cliffel, who experienced postpartum psychosis after the birth of her second child, and Dr. Susan Hatters-Friedman, the psychiatrist who treated her. The program examined the case and the debate over postpartum mental health.

Separately, a town hall discussion hosted by Criminally Obsessed's Anne Emerson, featuring postpartum psychosis survivor Kathryn Myers and Dr. Constance Guille of the Medical University of South Carolina, explored what postpartum illnesses can look like, when families should seek help, and why early intervention matters. As reported by Baltimore News and WJLA, the discussion highlighted that Clancy's case prompted conversations about systemic failures, including breakdowns in communication between health care providers. Dr. Guille, who compares postpartum psychosis to delirium, said the condition is marked by a break from reality, disorganization, and hallucinations. For more than half of those affected, it is the first mental health diagnosis they have experienced.