Advocating for Women with Postpartum Mental Illness : A Guide to Changing the Law and the National Climate

Advocating for Women with Postpartum Psychosis takes the reader into the world of one of the most misunderstood mental illnesses. Affecting 1 to 2 out of 1,000 childbearing women a year in the United States, postpartum psychosis creates hallucinations and delusions, which, if untreated, can lead to infanticide and subsequently imprisonment or death for the mother. While other parts in the world, particularly the United Kingdom have more sympathetic laws, in the United States, women with postpartum psychosis are often stigmatized as “baby killers”, and face the ultimate penalty.Through this book, though, authors Feingold and Lewis humanize the mother’s experience to promote understanding and compassion. Beginning with an overview of the mental health and legal facets surrounding postpartum psychosis, the authors then provide vital resources and tools for mental health practitioners and legal professionals to enact change in their practices and communities. Complete with case studies and the authors’ experiences in changing the law in their own state of Illinois, this book is a necessary resource for furthering dialogue and action around maternal mental illness.

Advocating for Women with Postpartum Psychosis takes the reader into the world of one of the most misunderstood mental illnesses. Affecting 1 to 2 out of 1,000 childbearing women a year in the United States, postpartum psychosis creates hallucinations and delusions, which, if untreated, can lead to infanticide and subsequently imprisonment or death for the mother. While other parts in the world, particularly the United Kingdom have more sympathetic laws, in the United States, women with postpartum psychosis are often stigmatized as “baby killers”, and face the ultimate penalty. Through this book, though, authors Feingold and Lewis humanize the mother’s experience to promote understanding and compassion. Beginning with an overview of the mental health and legal facets surrounding postpartum psychosis, the authors then provide vital resources and tools for mental health practitioners and legal professionals to enact change in their practices and communities. Complete with case studies and the authors’ experiences in changing the law in their own state of Illinois, this book is a necessary resource for furthering dialogue and action around maternal mental illness.