Warning: This story contains distressing details and discussion of attempted suicide.
Lindsay Clancy, who pleaded not guilty to the murder of her three children, is standing trial on charges that may turn on her mental health. A month before the January 2023 killings, she told her mother and former husband that she had “thoughts of harming the children” (Reuters).
Clancy’s mother, Paula Musgrove, testified that the woman would say, “This isn’t me, I’ve never been like this before,” and Musgrove agreed on the basis that Clancy had never exhibited such behaviour. Yet Clancy’s defense argues that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she took the children’s lives.
- Post‑partum psychosis can begin with mood swings, insomnia, and a delirium‑like state.
- Hallucinations and delusions—fixed false beliefs—often manifest rapidly after childbirth.
- Experts warn that 1 % to 4 % of women with postpartum psychosis may harm themselves or their children.
In court, a forensic psychologist stated: “She was unable to conform her behaviour to the rule of law and had no appreciation for the wrongfulness of her act.” Conversely, prosecutors maintained that Clancy made a calculated decision to kill her children—Cora, five; Dawson, three; Callan, eight months old—when they were still sleeping outside building a snowman, as her ex‑husband recalled.
The tragedy has launched a broader discussion about mental‑health complications after childbirth, as Clancy’s case brings postpartum psychosis into the limelight. The condition is not classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM‑5), which limits education, research funding, insurance coverage and public awareness.
Veerle Bergink, a professor of psychiatry, is advocating for its formal inclusion. “You can only investigate and talk about a disease if you give it a name, and if it has criteria,” she says. The omission from the DSM‑5 is described as “an erasure,” according to patient advocates.
Post‑partum psychosis is treatable. Lithium, a mood stabiliser, is commonly used to prevent relapse; other options include electroconvulsive therapy and antipsychotics. Most patients require psychiatric hospitalisation for a full recovery. In contrast, the Clancy case illustrates how rare and tragic it can be when a woman with postpartum psychosis ends up harming her children.
For patients like Meghan Cliffel, who experienced postpartum psychosis 24 months after giving birth, a treatment plan that combined psychotherapy (EMDR) and a year‑long course of lithium enabled future pregnancies without recurrence. She calls for a universal system that recognises maternal mental health issues as the most common complication of childbirth and offers proactive support.
