In 2018, Latarsha Sanders suffered a severe mental health episode, causing her to stab and kill her two sons, aged 8 and 5. She was convicted of 1st-degree murder in 2022, after a 9-day trial and just 4 hours of jury deliberation. In light of media attention on Lindsay Clancy’s case, Latarsha is getting a new trial based on evidence that the judge—who is also the judge in the Clancy case—wrongfully excluded hundreds of pages of psychiatric records. Sanders had undoubtedly been denied a fair trial . Lindsay and Latarsha’s stories are both devastating, and their children should still be alive.
These cases, and others like it, are indicative of a system that has no idea how to treat pregnant and birthing people. Even when it tries, biases get in the way of access. The DSM defines postpartum as only 4-weeks after delivery, no matter the kind of pregnancy or birthing experience a person has. C-section? 4 weeks. Baby born sleeping? 4 weeks. Multiples? 4 weeks. Interventions? 4 weeks… and the list goes on. The reality is, postpartum can last years, especially when left untreated. Our care can’t be reduced to a questionnaire, one 6-week checkup, or a lactation consult. Birthing bodies are complex, and we deserve our own sustained field.
Postpartum disorders exist on a spectrum, ranging from mild to extreme. Here’s a list of the three main types:
Postpartum Depression (PPD): this is the most common and the most recognized, often dismissed as ‘the baby blues’. Contrary to the cute nickname, PPD is a real, diagnosable, and treatable illness if you have access to care, and it can last far beyond the newborn or ‘baby’ stage.
Postpartum anxiety (PPA): this lesser-known illness can show up as paranoia, racing thoughts, and an inability to rest, especially when the baby is sleeping. It’s often missed in the 6-week screening, and many new mothers do not get any treatment for PPA.
Postpartum psychosis: From what we know, this extreme illness affects about 2 cases per 1,000 births. It can come on quickly, often within the first year after birth, and sometimes even later. PPP is not a current diagnosis in the DSM, and clinicians have been advocating for its proper diagnosis for years.
In 2020, when my twins were just 2 months old, COVID hit, and I began showing symptoms of PPA. I thought that we’d tried so hard to become a family, and now the world was ending. Around the time my twins turned 4 months old I could not produce enough milk for them, I started to develop what I now understand was postpartum psychosis. While I never felt like harming my own children, I became severely depressed, and I was deeply paranoid. I couldn’t sleep at night; I was convinced everyone was out to hurt or kill my family. For years I thought I was alone in my experience.
Most public knowledge stops at PPD, and there’s not even enough knowledge of that. In the US alone, there are over 62 million women considered to be of reproductive age; however, over 95% live in an area with a shortage of maternal health providers.
There are many factors that impact postpartum and perinatal health:
Fertility treatments/ reduced fertility can put birthing people at a higher risk. A recent Canadian study found that subfertility and infertility treatments are associated with higher risks of PPD, PPA, and postpartum psychosis.
Pregnancy loss can also change the landscape for any pregnancy that follows. Findings from a UK Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children that followed over 13,000 new mothers show that previous pregnancy loss or infant loss raises the risk of anxiety in subsequent pregnancies. Short intervals between tries further compound the risk, and partners are also at a higher risk for depression and anxiety after a loss.
The research on LGBTQ+ birthing people is growing—The Family Circle is proud to be part of that growth. What we know is that the risks for marginalized groups, including LGBTQ+ people, are higher, and the systems around us are more likely to miss red flags. A Nurses’ Health Study Cohort found that queer women reported significantly higher pregnancy-related stress and depression than heterosexual women.
A 2025 qualitative study of queer parents described postpartum as something they had to weigh out against the fear of the child welfare system. Because less than 2% of birthing parents have their orientation documented, it’s hard to know an accurate count. Transgender and gender-expansive patients are almost non-existent in current research, giving just another reason to fear speaking up or seeking support.
Donor conception and embryo adoption bring on an even less-studied layer. Many donor recipients describe ‘genetic grief‘ where they mourn the loss of a biological connection, even when they feel confident about their decision. For some recipients, the grief continues through pregnancy, into the postpartum stage. Questions that genetic parents don’t have to ask rise up: Will they think I’m not their real parent? How do I tell my friends and family? How and when do I tell the child?
Every tool currently used to screen for postpartum issues do not include any questions regarding grief tied to reproduction at all.
I started The Family Circle not only because of my own experiences, but because I saw gaps over and over again in the systems that are supposed to support us. Crisis response is not prevention. Here are a few things I think are necessary for building a sustained solution:
- Screening beyond 6 weeks after birth: Individualized, culturally appropriate care from inception, and if you’re in treatment, from your first appointment.
- Education for partners and family members as a standard: Patrick Clancy, Lindsay Clancy’s ex-husband, had no idea what postpartum psychosis was. Prenatal care should include care for partners and family members. Good friends or other support systems could also benefit from education about peer relationship support.
- Equity in fertility treatments and birthing: Regardless. No one should lack access to care, period.
The attention that trials like Clancy and Sanders bring to postpartum struggles is real, and it’s all too relatable. And there are countless others struggling alone through undiagnosed postpartum, and they are too afraid to speak up. I know that with my own postpartum struggles, it was extremely hard to speak up, let alone find proper care. We all deserve systems that work with us and for us, not against us.
If you or someone you know is struggling during treatments, pregnancy, or postpartum, Postpartum Support International’s HelpLine offers free, confidential support in English and Spanish. Call or text: 800-944-4473. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 (suicide and Crisis Lifeline), or TransLifeline at 877-565-8860
MD Sitzes is the founder of The Family Circle
**If you or someone you know is struggling during treatments, pregnancy, or postpartum, Postpartum Support International’s HelpLine offers free, confidential support in English and Spanish. Call or text: 800-944-4473. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 (suicide and Crisis Lifeline), or TransLifeline at 877-565-8860
