This week, according to the Springfield [Ohio] News-Sun, " … a west-central Ohio mother who attempted to drown her infant daughter in a bathtub has been sentenced to seven years in prison. Twenty-one-year-old Heather Nicole Dean, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to attempted murder this week in Clark County Common Pleas Court. Prosecutors say Dean was suffering from postpartum depression when she attempted to kill her baby last spring by holding her under running water in the bathtub. Court records show Dean called 911 after the drowning attempt and then performed CPR on the baby. The child made a full recovery."
Meanwhile, in a nearby state, another mother this week was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the murder of her two children. According to the Lancaster [Pennsylvania] New Era, "A Mount Joy woman who killed her two young sons in 2004 has been found not guilty by reason of insanity. Meghan Lippiatt, 32, smiled when Judge James P. Cullen announced his verdict … The verdict means Lippiatt avoids prison and the potential for the death penalty and will instead be treated at a psychiatric facility to be determined later … Lippiatt killed her two children, 4-month-old Myles and 2-year-old Silas, on April 18, 2004 … Her defense team argued successfully that she was suffering from schizoaffective disorder and didn’t know the difference between right and wrong when she killed the children." The paper stated in a previous article that " … while living in England in early 2004, Lippiatt was diagnosed with psychosis and postnatal depression after telling doctors she was hearing voices telling her to harm her children."
"… while living in England in early 2004, Lippiatt was diagnosed with psychosis and postnatal depression after telling doctors she was hearing voices telling her to harm her children."
Our society needs to repair its model. There needs to be a system in place that can prevent these tragedies, and that system would be societal support. Where was Mehgan's support upon being issued that diagnosis? Where was the postpartum care providers? Where was the follow up?
I firmly believe that with the right support systems in place, these horror stories can be eliminated.