Massachusetts Democratic Governor Maura Healey is pushing to broaden a program that would offer nurse home visits to every new mother in the state, following the closely watched murder trial of Lindsay Clancy.
Clancy, 36, admitted to killing her three children by strangling them with exercise bands. Her defense argued that she had been overmedicated while experiencing postpartum depression and that the combination of prescribed drugs caused her to develop psychosis.
Eleven of the 12 jurors accepted that argument and found the former labor and delivery nurse not guilty of murder or manslaughter by reason of insanity. But one juror declined to acquit her, leading Judge William Sullivan to declare a mistrial.
Healey now wants to make free nurse visits available at home for all parents of newborns while also revising rules for mental-health screenings of new mothers.
‘For new mothers, [parenthood] can be exhausting, isolating and overwhelming. There are physiological and hormonal changes that just leave you a different person after birth,’ Healey said at a Tuesday news conference, according to the Boston Globe.
‘There’s been a lot of talk lately, of course, in our state and around this country about postpartum issues and care. And we need to talk more openly about this.’
The governor said postpartum depression and the difficulties faced by new parents are ‘nothing new,’ but added that the Clancy trial had prompted renewed attention to the issue.
‘That case and that trial has certainly continued the conversation and raised the conversation nationally, internationally, to a new level.’
Democratic Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey is seeking to expand a program offering nurse home visits to every postpartum mother in the state
The proposal comes after the high-profile Lindsay Clancy murder trial
Under Healey’s proposal, the state would allocate $2 million to a program aimed at offering home visits to all families welcoming the roughly 68,000 newborns in Massachusetts each year.
No families would be required to participate, but those who do can have a nurse visit and answer questions about feeding, sleep and caring for a new baby. The nurse would also monitor mothers’ postpartum health, as well as screen for depression and other mental health concerns.
This would be the first state investment in a federally funded program that currently provides nurse visits to about 3,000 families each year, Healey said.
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Healey also proposed a $250,000 investment in the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program for Moms to support statewide tracking of postpartum psychosis data, create a clinical education team for mental health providers and expand education for families and clinicians about recognizing early warning signs and when to seek help.
She further directed the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to broaden screening for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, helping providers identify concerns earlier and connect families with necessary care.
Healey’s administration said the initiatives build on previous efforts to improve maternal health, including expanding MassHealth postpartum coverage to 12 months, expanding access to doula services and strengthening postpartum mental health screening requirements.
Clancy has not denied that she killed her three children, but argued she should be found not guilty by reason of insanity as she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time
Cora, five; Dawson, three; and Callan, eight months, were found strangled to death at their home in Duxbury, Massachusetts on January 24, 2023
One in eight women develop postpartum depression, which involves persistent sadness and fatigue, according to a 2024 study by BMC Public Health.
Roughly the same percentage of mothers develop postpartum anxiety, which includes overwhelming feelings of fear, difficulty concentrating or relaxing and compulsive rituals.
Postpartum psychosis is much more rare, affecting just one to two out of every 1,000 birth mothers.
About four percent of women with the most severe type of postpartum psychosis are estimated to kill their children, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
About five percent also take their own lives.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org.