As the Clancy case highlights postpartum psychosis, a mom stricken by it shares her story of hope
This photo provided by James Fitzsimmons shows Bridget María Chesterton cradling her infant daughter on her couch in Grand Island, N.Y., March 20, 2019. (James Fitzsimmons via AP)
About two weeks after giving birth, Bridget María Chesterton was curled up on the bathroom floor, saying things that made little sense. Later, in the emergency room, she kept repeating, "What’s going on?" She’d lost touch with reality.
The family eventually learned that Chesterton had postpartum psychosis, a severe mental health disorder thrust into the spotlight by the case of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts woman on trial for strangling her three children. A key question is whether postpartum psychosis drove Clancy to do it.
Researchers estimate that the condition — a mental health emergency that is less common than postpartum depression — afflicts 1 to 2 out of 1,000 women after delivery. Although most who develop postpartum psychosis don’t harm their children, mothers with severe cases may try to harm themselves or their kids.
If not for medication and strong family support, Chesterton said her own situation "could have gone sideways."
