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Postpartum psychosis affects one to two per 1,000 births and is a serious psychiatric emergency.

Standard postpartum care is typically one six-week visit, which leaves a significant gap in care.

Being dismissed by providers can have dire consequences, but being heard and believed can save lives.

Postpartum psychosis is a serious mental health condition that can have devastating consequences if left untreated. Right now, this reality is being played out in a Massachusetts courtroom, where Lindsay Clancy stands trial for the deaths of her three children. Her case has reignited a difficult but important conversation about what can happen when the mental health system fails a mother in crisis.

Unfortunately, Clancy is not the only mother failed by the system. Postpartum psychosis awareness advocate Aaisha Alvi, author of the memoir A Mom Like That, knows this all too well. She survived her own experience with postpartum psychosis after being dismissed by several providers. Both her and Clancy’s stories point to the same urgent gaps in perinatal mental health care.

What Is Postpartum Psychosis?

Postpartum psychosis is a serious psychiatric condition that occurs in an estimated one to two out of every 1,000 births. It typically develops rapidly, often within the first few weeks after birth, but it can occur later. It’s important to note that women who have experienced pregnancy loss can also develop postpartum psychosis.

The hallmark of postpartum psychosis is a break with reality, which can involve hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not actually there), delusions (false beliefs that the person is convinced are true), and........

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