Clancy trial highlights postpartum psychosis and barriers to care for mothers - WBUR

The murder trial of Lindsay Clancy is underway in Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts, with postpartum mental health at its center, as her attorneys admit she killed her three children and attempted suicide.
The defense hinges on postpartum psychosis, a severe and often misdiagnosed psychological illness that medical experts say requires more research, education, and public awareness.
Meghan Cliffel, who experienced postpartum psychosis, shared her account to illustrate how quickly and how "logically" a person can act while operating within a delusional reality.
Cliffel's episode began in December 2015 while riding the subway home from her job in New York City, when she became convinced that other passengers were part of a group trying to harm her and her two young daughters, then 2 years old and 8 months old.
Her paranoia intensified at home, where she believed the refrigerator was releasing poisonous gas and that people on television were threatening her; she hid her thoughts from her husband, unsure whether he was involved in the perceived plot.
The crisis escalated when Cliffel punched her husband trying to reach her children and insisted on going to the building's roof, prompting him to call 9-1-1; police arrived and handcuffed her while the children watched Elmo in the bedroom.