Trial opens for Massachusetts mum who says postpartum issues led her to killing own children

In the filing, Clancy said she had experienced trouble sleeping and had heard voices in her head repeatedly telling her to harm herself and her children.

“Lindsay Clancy did everything a mother in her situation could do,” the lawsuit said. “She recognized something was wrong with her. She sought medical treatment. She went to emergency rooms. She called crisis hotlines. She admitted herself to hospitals. She took the medication prescribed to her. She communicated her worsening symptoms to her providers. She told them the medications were making her worse.”

In a GoFundMe post that followed the killings, Patrick Clancy reportedly said that the “shock and pain is excruciating and relentless”, but asked people to look at his wife as he had done.

“The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring toward everyone — me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients,” the fundraising post said, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News. “The very fibers of her soul are loving. All I wish for her now is that she can somehow find peace.”

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) defines postpartum psychosis, external as a rare serious mental health illness that can affect someone soon after having a baby. “Postpartum psychosis is very different from the ‘baby blues’,” the NHS adds. “It’s a serious mental illness and should be treated as a medical emergency.”

Five of the 18 jurors needed for Clancy’s trial to proceed were seated on Monday during the selection process. Clancy’s husband and dozens of others are expected to testify as the case takes place.

Clancy has been receiving treatment at a state hospital between her courtroom appearances.

If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide. www.befrienders.org, external.

In the UK a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.