Mental health is a hot topic within the world and has been for years. In recent years we have taken a look at teenage suicides and school shooters. In the news lately, there was a six year old student that deliberately shot his teacher. Now this is a look at the different extremes to occur within the spectrum of mental illness specifically with postpartum depression.
Post-partum depression or PPD occurs roughly six weeks after a mother gives birth. The mother can seem very withdrawn and doesn’t build a relationship with the child. There are different stages of PPD. There is postpartum blues, postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. Most of the population that suffers from PPD, usually fall within the first two levels. Postpartum psychosis involves involvement of inpatient treatment for the mother.
Kathryn Grant is one example of postpartum psychosis where just even days after having her child, she was what she considered being “scared stiff” even with her husband and her sister with her, she could hear what was going on but wasn’t able to respond. It was from having multiple professionals working over her during her c-section and then she was brought to a recovery room where she had woken up in a room alone and anxious. Imagine being in a state where you just barely made it through giving birth to your child, having complications to then just wake up in a room on your own.
Just like other mental health facilities, it takes time to be able to be referred and admitted for services. It wasn’t for days, which she was lucky in her case to be diagnosed with postpartum psychosis and to be admitted to a special unit with her newborn. Not always is this case for women to have it detected especially this early and gain treatment. Kathryn Grant had the support of the system as they ensured she as well as her child was safe. According to Trudi Seneviratne, perinatal psychiatrist and clinical director of the unit, the average visit is about 8 weeks. Kathryn Grant was able to stay for three months where she continued to work towards being able to live her day to day routine.
Lindsay Clancy is a woman from Duxbury, MA. She was a woman that suffered from postpartum psychosis even while working as a nurse at a local hospital. She was put through inpatient treatment for the condition, but was released home due to the fact that her insurance wouldn’t cover the services anymore. Her husband was given instructions to work with Lindsay with her treatment. One of these instructions was not to leave Lindsay alone. One night, her husband went to pick up and take out dinner. Within the 25 minutes that he was gone, she had strangled both her 5 year old, 3 year old, and 8 month old children with exercise bands. After she had murdered both the younger children and severely injured the 8 month old (who passed away a couple of days later), she had thrown herself out of the window. Mind you, she was not supposed to be left alone.
The cases between the two women are vast with not only demographics of the United States and England, but also the severity of their postpartum psychosis. Kathryn Grant was scared stiff and had a hard time connecting with the outside world. Lindsay Clancy is a different length of the spectrum where she murdered her three children and then tried to commit suicide by throwing herself out of the window. As much as Lindsay Clancy is wrong for what she did on different levels, she had women that were coming forward about their postpartum depression and psychosis with their own experiences. The system over in England had helped Kathryn Grant, the system here was not supportive in helping Lindsay Clancy. According to a Health Affairs article by April Dembrosky, in the United States we only have psych wards, we do not have the Mother Baby Units. Also, maternal mortality is the highest in the United States compared to other high-income countries. If you would consider the perspective between the two systems and what has occurred with two women, that statement would make sense. England, the UK take a more gradual approach with even discharging their patients from the mother baby units and work with them during the process. WIthin the U.S. we keep to the set amount that insurance provides, that’s with if the individual has insurance and send them on their way.
Debrosky, A. (2021). A humane approach to caring for new mothers in Psychiatric Crisis. Health Affairs. Retrieved February 11, 2023, from https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01288
Ward, B. (2023, February 8). ‘she killed the kids!’: Duxbury mother strangled 3 children with exercise bands, prosecutor says. Boston 25 News. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/she-killed-kids-duxbury-mother-strangled-3-children-with-exercise-bands-prosecutor-says/U5GSWMZJCFCIJKCDQKZO5KHF7Q/
Hi Ceili,
This was a very interesting post. PPD is so common and mothers going through such a transitional time in their lives need support both emotionally and medically. I did not know that PPD psychosis was a term, however it is interesting and also scary to see how if not identified and treated, the dangers it can lead to. The case about Lindsay Clancy is so tragic, and also I can see where blame can be on the system for basically kicking her out once her insurance could no longer pay. Lives could have been saved because she was clearly not ready to exist and provide a safe home environment, even with her husband present. Like you mentioned with the US, having psych wards rather than mother baby units is not the best means for PPD. Progressively, I would love to see this integrated and hope that the awareness for PPD overall is increased and taken more seriously.
Hi Ceili,
I found your post extremely interesting. The commentary of PPD and its treatment between the two healthcare systems is very interesting. The story of a lack of insurance leading to an extreme worsening of a treatable condition is one that is told far too often. An ethical concern that came to mind while reading your post was whether the medical staff that discharged Lindsay Clancy gave her husband treatment instructions knowing that he was not qualified to assist her with her condition. That a financial issue lead to involuntary malpractice by a loved one that was doing what he thought was best. Also, if the facility that Lindsay was being treated in was properly equipped to diagnose and treat the severity of her psychosis. All of these criticisms are something that healthcare operators and administrators should consider. If these professionals acted on this knowledge it could lead doctors and other healthcare practitioners to act in malpractice because they would be giving instructions knowing it could lead to harm. Leading to possible lawsuits and medical license revocation. On the other side, of the argument however, one should consider the implications of what the UK must do in order to provide such extensive maternal care. The required tax rate in order to provide those services are levels that most Americans would not be willing to adapt to. While reformation should be a focus, preforming it within the current medical system will be a more complicated task than copying what another country is doing.
Hi Ceili
I would like to start off by saying I loved reading your post it was very interesting, easy to read, and well written. I think that postpartum depression has become more of a well known and talked about subject in the past few years. The topic of mental health has become more of a welcomed topic in recent years whereas you used to never speak about it. I personally think that its great that society is becoming more welcoming to people talking. about their mental issues and helping one another. It is important for people to feel safe and to feel like they are being heard. We need more people to speak up and find the help that they need before it is to late. It is so interesting to me to see the differences in the systems in which these women asked for help and Im happy to see how you compared the two even though they are vastly different.
I still think that a lot of mothers dealing with postpartum depression keep it to themselves. I think that they are scared to speak up because they could be seen as unfit to parent and feel like someone might try to take away their children from them because they are dealing and feeling these emotions. I love how you talked about Lindsay Clancy and her story in your discussion post. I still think that its sad that it has to come to these kinds of situations for people to really understand what these people are going through. Unfortunately even though these kind of things happen everyday some people dont believe or choose to not understand the severity of mental illness. An event like this can happen and people will talk about it for a week or two and then move on with their lives until the same thing happens in the future. The cycle keeps repeating itself. We need to start taking mental health seriously and be able to provide people who are seeking help a safe place to do so.
Hi Ceili,
I’m glad that you chose this article to review. The case of Lindsay Clancy is a perfect example of how our healthcare system is failing mothers. We automatically think “wow, how could she do that to her children” and demonize her for doing such a thing without acknowledging the seriousness of the condition in which she was battling. I have read many stories from mothers who suffered from postpartum depression or psychosis and I am amazed to learn just how prevalent the disorder truly is. As a mother myself, I can attest that our healthcare system does not provide the postpartum care needed to prevent tragedies such as these. One follow up visit at 6 weeks postpartum is not enough! A questionnaire to assess for postpartum depression, anxiety, or psychosis is not an adequate method of assessment. Tragedies such as these are preventable with proper intervention.