Nobody Listened Until She Was in a Courtroom: Postpartum Illness and a Diagnosis That Runs Out

• By: Susie Branagan, BSN, RN Susie Branagan Consulting
• October 12th, 2026
• criminal justice system, dsm-5-tr, Fall 2026 Issue, maternal mental health, maternal mortality, perimenopause, peripartum onset, postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis
• 4    0

Dana came onto our unit nineteen weeks after she delivered her son. Her husband got up at two that morning and found her side of the bed empty. She was in the baby's room, sitting straight up in the rocking chair, not rocking, looking at the wall. She did not lift her head when he came in, or when...