ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The fate of Lindsay Clancy is now in the hands of 12 jurors who will decide whether the Massachusetts mom of three is guilty of strangling her young children to death in January 2023.
Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, has argued that the 36-year-old was suffering from postpartum psychosis when the killings happened. That defense has ignited a national conversation about postpartum mental health.
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“My husband had found me on the bathroom floor in the middle of the night and curled up in a blanket,” Bridget Maria Chesterton said when recounting her experience with postpartum psychosis. “He decided to take me to the emergency room because he could not figure out what was wrong.”
The Western New York mother said there were signs leading up to that moment that indicated something was wrong. Chesterton’s symptoms occurred roughly two weeks after she delivered her first child at 33 weeks.
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“I was in the NICU and the walls began to move, and the floor kind of went away,” Chesterton said. “Now, looking back, it’s clear that was the first sign of psychosis.”
Chesterton said she was fortunate enough to receive help for the condition, but she knows others are not always as lucky.
Paige Bellenbaum is a licensed clinical social worker and perinatal mental health specialist. She described care for postpartum mental health as a “crisis on our hands.”
“I hope more than anything that this [Clancy case] sounds the alarm bells, both on a societal level and on a legislative level,” Bellenbaum said.
Bellenbaum is fighting for legislation that would require CUNY and SUNY schools of Social Work to offer a maternal mental health course.
Lindsay Clancy trial: First day of jury deliberations ends
Republican Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz also sponsored legislation last year that he said would help rewrite state laws surrounding postpartum care.
“What we’re seeing is data that is waving a red flag showing us that we need to change the way we operate postpartum,” Blumencranz said. “What this will do is create coordinated care programs, connect [mothers] with state resources, allow for telehealth to be part of the process.”
That brings hope to women like Chesterton, who believes no mother should have to navigate the postpartum period alone, regardless of whether or not they have mental health struggles.
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