Lindsay Clancy trial spotlights postpartum psychosis

Lindsay Clancy's murder trial in Massachusetts has renewed debate in the United States over postpartum psychosis, as jurors consider her insanity defence in the deaths of her three young children.

Clancy, a 36-year-old nurse, does not deny strangling Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, eight months, with fitness bands at their home in Duxbury in January 2023. She then jumped from a second-story window and is now paralyzed from the waist down.

She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, saying she heard a voice ordering her to kill her children. Her lawyers say postpartum psychosis caused her actions. Prosecutors reject that argument, saying she planned the killings and understood the consequences.

Jury deliberations began in Plymouth on August 27 after a five-week trial. If found guilty, Clancy faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Supporters dressed in pink have attended court to draw attention to maternal mental health. Sally Wilson of the charity Action on Postpartum Psychosis said postpartum psychosis is a medical emergency affecting about one to two women in every 1,000 births.

Clancy's lawyer Kevin Reddington said during closing arguments that she had repeatedly sought help before the killings and received poor medical care. Prosecutors acknowledged that she was suffering from mental illness but argued that the killings were planned and especially cruel.