Lindsay Clancy's Trial And Maternal Mental Health
Updated: Aug 7
Updated August 7, 2026
Lindsay Clancy's trial brings postpartum psychosis and maternal mental health into the national spotlight. The loss of her three children is heartbreaking, and this tragedy deserves care and clarity.
The court will decide if Clancy is responsible for her children's death. Her defense is not that she didn't do it, but that she was living with postpartum psychosis made worse by overmedication.
What Maternal Mental Health Means
What is Perinatal Mental Health?
Perinatal mental health means your mental health during pregnancy through about two years after birth. This time is a high-risk time where 1 in 5 mothers, and 1 in 10 fathers, will experience a mental health condition. These can include depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis.
What Postpartum Psychosis Looks Like
Postpartum psychosis is a mental health emergency. It affects 1 or 2 out of 500 moms. Symptoms of postpartum psychosis start quickly, within a few days or weeks after birth. This condition can cause delusions and hallucinations that make it hard to know what is real. This break from reality might involve visions, sounds, sensations that the person believes is real. A person might believe these thoughts are real and act on them, even if they find them scary or confusing.
It's important to note: the delusions and hallucinations do not always lead to harm. But, someone having visions, hearing sounds or believing things that aren't real should receive immediate, specialized treatment. Psychosis is a psychiatric emergency. With proper care and support, postpartum psychosis is treatable and a full recovery is possible.
Intrusive Thoughts vs. Psychosis
Most new parents have intrusive thoughts (70-100%). Intrusive thoughts can be scary, but they are different from postpartum psychosis. Intrusive thoughts feel unwanted- you know they are just thoughts, not your true wants or beliefs.
Postpartum psychosis includes visions, voices and beliefs that feel real or true. That is why postpartum psychosis is an emergency that needs fast, specialized care.
You Are Not Alone In Your Maternal Mental Health Journey
To any mothers witnessing this discussion, please know you are not alone.
If you are scared by what you see or hear in the news, you are not alone.
If you see your own thoughts in Clancy's story, you are not alone.
If you are trying to find the right therapy or medication, you are not alone.
However you feel, it's okay to feel that way.
It's important to remember Postpartum Psychosis is different from other pregnancy and postpartum mental health conditions: You can have scary thoughts and not have Postpartum Psychosis.
Of course, if you believe you're seeing things that aren't there, hearing voices, or in a different reality, Postpartum Psychosis is an emergency that deserves to be treated as such.
Finding Maternal Mental Health Support
If you or someone you know is in a mental health crisis, call 911 or 988, the National Mental Health Crisis Hotline.
For non-emergency Maternal Mental Health Support, you can call 1-833-943-5746 to reach the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline operated by Postpartum Support International.
In Southeast Wisconsin and Dane, Moms Mental Health Initiative connects moms to qualified providers with knowledge and experience with perinatal mental health conditions. There are also local peer support groups where you can sit with other people going through similar things. Outside of the area, Postpartum Support International provides excellent resources.
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