Lindsay Clancy Case: The Warning Signs of Postpartum Psychosis | Dr. Blair Steele & Dr. Kenneth Spielvogel

In the Lindsay Clancy case, a labor and delivery nurse with a documented history of postpartum depression killed her three children and attempted suicide. The jury deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial. But the case has forced a national conversation about a condition most people have never heard of: postpartum psychosis. As one of the experts on this episode put it, "If we just judge it, we're not gonna learn anything."

What Postpartum Psychosis Actually Is

Postpartum psychosis is a severe and sudden mental health condition that occurs in roughly one to two out of every 1,000 births. It is distinct from postpartum depression, which affects 7 to 10 percent of women. Postpartum depression involves sadness, emptiness, hopelessness, and fatigue—but no psychotic features. Postpartum psychosis, by contrast, includes auditory and visual hallucinations, dissociation, and a complete disconnection from reality.

The condition is often linked to bipolar disorder. The severe insomnia that accompanies it is not ordinary sleep deprivation from a newborn; it is a specific symptom where the person feels energized and does not feel the need to sleep. This pushes them into a manic-like state, which then rapid-cycles into severe depression with psychotic features, including command hallucinations—voices that tell the person what to do, often to harm themselves or the infant.