I've been reading about the Lindsay Clancy case and it's utterly heartbreaking. I myself am a midwife and had terrible PND/anxiety after my first. In fact, it wasn't even until years later that I realised how severe it was (despite having had fairly intensive therapy and much support at the time). I can't help but read some of the testimonies about the Clancy case and see how parallel our experiences were, which is truly frightening. The sleep deprivation, the worry about the children, worry that revealing the severity of symptoms would lead to losing the children, the feelings of inadequacy. One massive difference is that I was so lucky to have my concerns addressed straight away by CAMHS and put in touch with an excellent support team with no wait. I am forever grateful for that and feel she may have saved our family.
I have also learned more about PND and other postnatal metnal health disorders, it is often women who are high-achieving, women who have experience with the medical system who can either a) put on a show to hide how severe their symptoms are, and/or b) are seen as less vulnerable because of their position and experience. I also think we don't learn or focus enough on mental health in our training, and tend to think of baby blues/PND as things that happen in the first couple of months after birth, and afterwards we just need to grit through it all.
Can anyone else relate to this? It's profoundly sad to see what she and her family went through, and to think how much other women and their families suffer due to inadequate attention and care for perinatal mental health.