What Ms. B. Monaghan Taught Me About Morality

By August 31, 2011

infanticideWhen Ms. B. Monaghan’s American Thought & Language class began, my fellow Michigan State University students and I were directed to obtain a three-ring presentation binder.  On the cover of the binder we were to write the title “My Power In My Hand.”  Inside the binder, on page 2, we were to type the general objective of our class: “To become intelligent and compassionate observers of, and participate in, the great human drama going on around us and within us.”

Ms. B. Monaghan’s class met three days a week, and she made us write papers three days a week.   Here were some of the questions we were to answer in those papers:

Would you kill your father for freedom?

Who should die in times of crisis?

Who should get an education when spaces are limited?

“I’m 17 years old,” I remember thinking. “I’m a freshman in college.  I have no idea why you’re asking me these questions. What kind of class is this?” [Read more...]

August 31, 2011 6:00 pm Filed Under: Postpartum Depression, Postpartum Psychosis

The Sorry State of Mental Health Care for New Mothers in the US

By August 30, 2011

postpartum depressionThere are hundreds of thousands of women suffering at this very moment from mental illnesses related to pregnancy and childbirth like postpartum depression. This very minute.  Only 15% of them are getting the professional mental health care they need and deserve.

I’m not kidding.  Only a small minority are getting help. The rest are left to fend for themselves.

Maybe they don’t know they need help.  The amount of education and awareness offered is usually brief, if offered at all.  Almost dismal, really.  So many childbirth educators and OBs don’t want to upset or offend pregnant moms by getting into the dirty details of postpartum depression.

And the mamas fend for themselves.

We don’t have time to screen for postpartum depression, the providers say.  We don’t have time to take social histories.  We aren’t reimbursed.  There’s no mandate to do it in most states.  Besides, who should do it? The pediatrician? The OB? Someone else? Who’s paying for this? When should we do it? Where do I send her if she’s sick? Which tool do I use?

And the mamas continue to fend for themselves.

[Read more...]

August 30, 2011 2:43 pm Filed Under: Postpartum Depression

Mother Charged With Murder Had Been Treated for Postpartum Depression

By August 25, 2011

This post may be upsetting if you are currently suffering from a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder.

A baby has died and a mother is charged with murder.

I hate writing about these things.  I’d almost rather pretend they haven’t happened.  Sonia Hermosillo, a mother of three who had apparently been treated for postpartum depression, threw her seven-month-old son off of a four-story parking garage.  Sadly, he passed away from his injuries yesterday.

[Read more...]

August 25, 2011 9:42 am Filed Under: Postpartum Psychosis

Dying at the Hands of Postpartum Depression: Infanticide In the Media

By April 18, 2011

Two media stories have been sitting in my inbox for several days, both about the killing of young children by their mothers. I let them sit there because I always have a hard time finding the words to talk about such things. At the same time, there is plenty of speculation in the media about why the mothers in these two stories harmed their children, and whether it had anything to do with postpartum depression.

Maybe. Maybe not.

As outlined in this pretty balanced story on MSNBC.com, there are several situations in which mothers kill their children:

  • ignored pregnancy
  • abuse-related
  • neglect-related
  • assisted or coerced filicide (such as when a partner forces the killing); and
  • purposeful filicide with the mother acting alone

The cases I've seen involving postpartum psychosis or severe postpartum depression with psychotic features have generally fallen into that last category. The MSNBC story doesn't say which percentage of all murders of children fall under purposeful filicide, nor does it say what percentage of all purposeful filicides involve infanticide, which is the murder of a baby younger than 1 year of age, so it's hard for us to know how often, among all murders of children, a murder is committed because the mom has a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder. Once is often enough, of course, but still it would be nice to have hard data to show moms with postpartum depression so they know that their fellow sufferers aren't murdering their children all over the place. (They AREN'T, by the way.)

It seems fairly certain that one of the mothers involved in the news last week, Janet Thies-Kogh, had a perinatal mood disorder of some sort. Thies-Kogh has been charged with suffocating her 8-month-old, andThe Chicago Tribune reports that she is being treated now, according to her lawyer, for postpartum psychosis. As is always the case, I wonder what the advance signs were and whether anyone was aware that she needed serious help.

It will be more difficult to find out what happened in the case of LaShanda Armstrong, because she drove her van into a river, killing herself and four of her children. She cannot be tested by psychiatrists. Those who know her say she was depressed after finding out the father of three of her children was having an affair, according to the New York Daily News, so it may be that she didn't have postpartum depression per se.

No matter what, such tragedies often bring discussions of postpartum depression to the media forefront. I suppose I could be grateful that perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are being discussed at all. I just wish the media was equally as likely to discuss PPD in other circumstances — positive circumstances — as it is in the cases of infanticide. What about the stories of recovery? What about the stories of moms helping moms? What about the fact that the vast majority of women with postpartum depression never harm even a hair on any child's head for any reason?

Maybe then we'd reduce stigma and more women would get the help they need. Maybe then more women would recognize when they are suffering, and more doctors would be looking out for them, and more family members would be there for support, and women who sought help would get it from people who know what they are doing.

Maybe then we could eliminate stories of tragedy altogether.

April 18, 2011 4:43 pm Filed Under: Postpartum Depression

Canadian Ruling Upholds Infanticide Defense

By March 7, 2011

You may not have been aware of this, but recently the country of Canada was considering whether to eliminate its infanticide law.

As reported in the Montreal Gazette, Ontario's top court ruled that "a woman who kills her newborn baby can continue to use infanticide resulting from postpartum depression as a defense against the charge of murder."

Whereas a murder charge could lead to a life sentence, a conviction of infanticide in Canada carries a maximum 5-year sentence. It would apply to any mother who, "… through a 'willful act or omission' causes the death of a newborn under 12 months because 'her mind was disturbed. following childbirth or lactation."

The Gazette story stated that the Crown asked the court to revisit the infanticide defense "… last September after a 29-year-old woman was found guilty by a trial judge of infanticide for killing two of her babies. She ended up spending one year in prison after being given credit for pre-trial custody." The government felt the infanticide law was outdated and no longer reflected the views of society, as apparently neither the prosectors nor the public was happy with the amount of this woman's prison time.

The US doesn't have such laws, but I believe they are common in Europe. Texas was attempting to be the first state to enact an infanticide law, but I don't believe that has happened.

March 7, 2011 2:01 pm Filed Under: Postpartum Depression Policy

On The Women Who Don’t Survive

By February 21, 2011

Warrior Moms. Survivors. Surviving. Fighting Back.

I use those words for a reason. I created the Warrior Mom logo because I was so sick and tired of the few portrayals of women with postpartum depression, or any other perinatal mood or anxiety disorder, as "less than". Like we are women with something missing. Women who can't keep it together. Women who just aren't as strong as the rest of the group.

That pissed me off.

So I decided, with Postpartum Progress, to take a different approach. I wanted people to see women with postpartum depression as people who have had an illness and who have recovered. The illness isn't who we are. It's not even a large part of who we are, though it is powerful enough to seemingly take over everything for a while.

I also wanted to find a different way of looking at what I went through for my own benefit, because it helped me. I could look back on my experience with postpartum OCD as a black hole or I could look at it as a period of growth and strength. It allowed me to reframe what happened, or at least how I viewed what happened. The Warrior Mom helped me as much or more as it has helped any other person who has ever read this blog.

However.

I read a piece today from Chemo Babe, where she writes beautifully about cancer and the people who have made it through and the people who haven't. She wants to make it clear that the people who haven't survived cancer have no less character than the people who have. Her words made me stop and think.

When I talk about Warrior Moms, I want to make sure you know that I do so because I want you to feel empowered, instead of small. I want you to feel you can fight back, instead of surrendering. I don't want you to feel defective, or lacking in character or mothering skills or anything else for that matter. Because I know how easy it is to feel those ways, having been there myself.

I don't, however, mean to imply that the women who didn't make it were lacking in some way. It crushes me when I read about a new mother's suicide or infanticide, or when I read about a woman who has lost her family because of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. I often wonder what the details were. I want answers. Was she just so good at hiding it because she believed no one should ever know? Was she in so much pain that she felt this was the best or only solution? Was she suffering from delusions that led her to fully believe ending her or someone else's live was the right answer? Did she receive poor or uninformed treatment from the medical community, or was her treatment ineffective? Was she limited in her ability to seek or receive help because of geography or finances or health insurance or some other reason? Is there any answer to this at all, or is there, as is true in some cases, no why to be had?

The one thing I don't ask is whether she was tough enough or good enough or strong enough.

Some people recover and some people don't.

I wish everyone did.

I hope that when I write here of triumph and survival and strength, you'll know what I mean. And what I don't.

February 21, 2011 9:29 pm Filed Under: Postpartum Depression, Warrior Moms

Time Magazine & “Psychotic Nut Job” Mothers

By January 4, 2011

"Psychotic nut jobs." That's the term used in a recent Time magazine Healthland piece about mothers who kill their newborns.

Time, have we not already been over the issue of mental health stigma and poor reporting with you?

Good grief. I'm appalled.

January 4, 2011 12:04 pm Filed Under: Postpartum Psychosis, Stigma

Two Moms Speak Up About Psychosis & New Motherhood

By September 20, 2010

I’m having a hard time focusing today ladies. Spent the weekend in the NC mountains with my children, where the weather was just lovely. Now I’m trying to catch up on email and Twitter. Two great things I want to point out to you today:

The first is an op-ed by PSI coordinator Hajara Kutty, which appeared in Canada’s National Post in response to the current court case that is looking at whether Canada should have a special infanticide defense. She writes about the fact that we could likely avoid this discussion altogether if we just took better care of new mothers. I had been meaning to write about this issue myself, but when I saw Hajara’s piece I knew I didn’t need to. She did an absolutely beautiful job.

The second is a post from Beth Anne at Heir to Blair, writing openly about her psychotic episode while suffering from severe postpartum depression. Experiencing psychosis in any form is a very scary thing, and very few people write about it openly which is understandable given the stigma that exists. But Beth Anne told her story last week, and I’m glad she did.

Also, if you are suffering and need support, come join the PPD Chat today on Twitter at 1pm Eastern. Just use the hashtag #PPDChat.

September 20, 2010 11:51 am Filed Under: Postpartum Psychosis

An Advocate’s Take on Why We Need To Do More For Women with Postpartum Psychosis

By July 8, 2010

I wrote about the Otty Sanchez plea bargain on Tuesday. Then I received the following from Postpartum Progress reader Hajara Kutty. Hajara is a coordinator in Ontario for Postpartum Support International. Read her opinion about postpartum psychosis and how the postpartum community needs to do more to help these mothers. What do you think?

Otty, Scotty & Me

Where most postpartum advocates are celebrating the Otty Sanchez decision, for me the verdict is bittersweet. This is not to say that those celebrating are without just cause. It's quite the opposite. We have every reason to rejoice; a woman who committed infanticide while suffering from postpartum psychosis has been spared the death sentence.

However, I just can't get over that instead of facing the chair, Otty will lose the bulk of her remaining life (if not all of it) to a maximum-security mental institution. And this because of what? Some would argue that it is because of her unspeakable crime of savagely killing and mutilating her baby, Scotty, of only a few weeks. But this, as determined by the courts, was not her fault as she was insane at the time. Add to this the court's acknowledgment that Otty had tried to get help for herself.

This, for me, is why the verdict is bittersweet: sweet because she has been spared a lengthy trial and potential death sentence. It's bitter, however, not only because she was failed by those around her, but because her case casts a glaring light on the work we, as a postpartum community, have failed to do.

Compared to all other infanticides, perhaps what strikes me most about this case in particular is how Otty demonstrated a great deal of sanity despite her insanity.

For one, Otty had a history of mental illness that she was open about. In the aftermath of the tragedy even distant relatives emerged to reveal that Otty had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. Her husband, Scott, famous for calling for Otty to get the death sentence, divulged that Otty had told him she was schizophrenic the week before the incident.

In a world more informed about postpartum psychosis, this should have sounded alarm bells, since having a pre-existing mental illness, especially bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, puts women at a seriously increased risk of developing postpartum psychosis.

Next, Otty was agitated on the night before the tragedy and wasn't trying to hide how disturbed she was. She was reported to have brought her son over and over again to her sister throughout the night. The sister, in turn, spent much of the night caring for the infant. Mere hours after handing him back to Otty he was dead.

Again, in a world more informed about postpartum psychosis, this behavior could have at least resulted in Otty being taken to an emergency room.

For me, point number three is the most important and saddening: Otty told people she was hearing voices. In fact, this is what landed her in an emergency room hours after giving birth. Despite exhibiting this obvious symptoms of postpartum psychosis so soon after giving birth, Otty was sent home. Though some reports say that she was prescribed the antidepressant citalopram for her symptoms, there is no mention whatsoever about hospitalization, antipsychotic medication or 24-hour supervision — steps that could have prevented the tragedy that followed.

All of this is what essentially leads me to the bitter realization that we, as a postpartum community, need to wake up to the reality of this illness.

We need to stop apologizing for this condition and wasting precious time and space reassuring people that this is a rare phenomenon. Instead, we need to put out important, relevant information including: that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are serious risk factors for postpartum psychosis; that symptoms like agitation, severe insomnia or bizarre behavior/speech in the postpartum period may be symptoms of postpartum psychosis and need to be checked out immediately; that women suspected of suffering from or those diagnosed with this condition need to be supervised 24/7 until stable; and that postpartum psychosis is easily treatable.

Putting out this kind of information is what is going to help families to get their loved ones help, even in the face of ignorant healthcare professionals, and in the end, is what will prevent postpartum tragedies from occurring.

I truly believe that we, who are passionate about postpartum issues or work in the field, need to be actively putting out the right kind of information about this illness. And by doing that, I feel confident that we can ensure that Scotty and Otty (and all the other mothers) will have not lost their lives in vain.

July 8, 2010 9:19 am Filed Under: Bipolar Disorder, Postpartum Psychosis, Warrior Moms

Mom Defended By Yates’ Attorney Found Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity

By July 6, 2010

How blessed are women who suffer from severe and dangerous postpartum psychosis to have a man like George Parnham to defend them? First he defended Andrea Yates, and just recently he served as the lawyer for Otty Sanchez, whose story is so gruesome I'm just not going to replay it here. Suffice it to say she had postpartum psychosis and committed infanticide. Even the district attorney in the case recognized her plight:

"[District Attorney Susan] Reed said she was horrified by what Sanchez did, but also disturbed by the fact that she had sought treatment before killing her son and did not receive the care she needed."

Last week,Sanchez was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a plea deal. She will be committed to a state mental institution in Texas rather than being put on trial.

For the full story, click here, but don't read it if you are currently suffering as it may upset you, and there's just no need for that.

Thank you, George, for everything you do for the otherwise defenseless and terribly ill women who need help.

July 6, 2010 12:49 pm Filed Under: Postpartum Psychosis
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