The jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial is taking additional time to reach a verdict, as the case continues to draw national attention to postpartum psychosis and the urgent need for specialized mental health care.
Clancy, 36, is accused of killing her three young children, including her youngest, who was just 8 months old. Jurors must determine whether she was mentally healthy enough to understand that killing her children was wrong.
Prosecutors contend she acted intentionally. Her defense maintains she should not be held responsible for the killings because she was bipolar and had postpartum psychosis.
Andrea Clark with Postpartum Support International describes postpartum psychosis as a rare but urgent and treatable mental health condition that can occur after giving birth and should be treated as an emergency. The condition can alter a person's sense of reality, causing hallucinations and delusions. It can come on suddenly or within days or weeks after childbirth, and it affects 1 to 2 women out of every 1,000.
"It feels like it comes out of nowhere," Clark said.
Because a person's reality can become altered, Clark says they may take extreme action they believe is necessary to protect themselves or their children.
"It has the potential to effect the health, well-being and life of not only the mother but of the newborn and other children and members of their family as well," Clark said.
Do you have a concern in your community or a news tip? We want to hear from you!
Connect with us: share@abc15.com
The headlines from the Clancy trial have prompted mothers and medical providers to reach out to Postpartum Support International with questions about postpartum psychosis.
"It's elevating the conversations women's mental health, about prenatal mental health," Clark said.
Clark also notes that a person does not need a history of psychosis or bipolar disorder for postpartum psychosis to occur.
For anyone experiencing a postpartum mental health crisis, Clark recommends immediate crisis intervention, including calling the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-943-5746.
In Arizona, Women's Health Innovations of Arizona specializes in perinatal mental health and is also available as a local resource.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Want more news in your community? Add ABC15 as a preferred source on Google below:
