Lately there has been a trial, dividing America, where a young mother Lindsay Clancy, has been put on trial for the murder of her three children, Cora, Dawson and Callan, while she was in the postpartum period. After killing her children, she then made a serious attempt to take her life by plunging head-first out of her bedroom window, sustaining serious spinal cord injuries that mean she’ll never walk again.

But what has been elevating this trial is that Lindsay Clancy time and time again asked for help due to her worsening mental state but the response she received was substandard. The doctors prescribed multiple medications with Clancy having an adverse reaction to some of the drugs. The professionals were not working together and there was a lack of therapy that left her, and her family exposed to danger.

You might wonder why on earth put this fragile woman on trial, but this was what the prosecutors did, and in doing so ignited a debate about mental health care, particularly for mothers, putting this system on trial along with Clancy.

During the trial, we learned the main ‘help’ Clancy received was from a psychiatrist. But it turned out all the ‘visits’ were through a video portal – telehealth. The first time the psychiatrist saw Clancy in person was at the trial.

This psychiatrist was newly qualified, with just one month’s experience of being able to ‘see’ patients on her own. What this new psychiatrist didn’t do was confer with any of her colleagues. She had a young mother in the postpartum period who wasn’t getting better, despite the multiple prescriptions, yet this newly qualified doctor didn’t reach out to her team at all.

As a nurse, Clancy knew she wasn’t getting better, so tried to get help from other providers, including suicide hotlines, who because Clancy didn’t have a ‘plan’ were unable to help her. This is something many people from the US and the UK will have experienced. Suicide crisis lines, not offering help unless you have an active plan to take your life.

At one point, in desperation, Clancy admitted herself on a voluntary basis to a psychiatric inpatient ward, but because it was at the weekend and during a national holiday, the only assistance offered to her was art therapy in a group. Desperate to feel like herself again, she discharged herself. This decision to leave hospital would be something the prosecution used against her.

As Clancy continued to decline, she disclosed to her mother and husband that the intruding thoughts she was having were not just encouraging her to take her own life but hurt the children too. It takes a lot for a nurse of seven years to mention this – something her mother and husband realised. They took action to try and get her more help and let the providers know just how serious her condition was but all she received was much of the same, more medication, on top of other medication.

Over a span of four months, Clancy's condition deteriorated, ultimately resulting in the deaths of her three young children and her own serious suicide attempt.

There was a choice whether to put this mother who was ill in the postpartum period, on trial, but as opening statements were made it was clear just how nasty it would be, with prosecutors calling the suicide attempt following the death of her three children ‘fake’ as well as ‘selfish’.

The contrast of these prosecutors to the passionate 75-year-old who was defending Clancy, suddenly raised the profile of this motorbike-riding attorney, Kevin Reddington, not just nationally, but internationally too.

Throughout this trial, key issues regarding the mental health care Clancy received have been revealed. The first was this online psychiatrist, didn’t use the standard scale to assess postpartum mothers’ mental health. When other providers used the scale, Clancy was at 15 and 23 both indicating she was at severe risk, and in need of help.

These providers didn’t communicate with each other, and this meant Clancy slipped through the net. There was a lack of person-to-person therapy. Even during an inpatient admission all that was offered was art therapy.

I think this is why this trial has attracted so much attention. Many people in both the US and UK are aware of these of these holes in the mental health system – either through experiencing it themselves or through working in mental health.

Way back in 1989 when I stepped out of a window, sustaining spinal cord injuries, the problems were similar. I had a new GP as my family had moved while I was in hospital, and there was little communication between him and my psychiatrist. Also, the support promised to me in the community didn’t materialise.

As we reach Suicide Prevention Day on the 10th of September, these problems need addressing. It cannot carry on that so many people are failed.

· We need professionals to communicate with each other.

· We need more opportunities and access to in-person, not virtual therapy.

· We need all services to be more joined-up, less fragmented

· We need ‘suicide hotlines’ to support those with suicidal ideation, but maybe not (or not admitting having) a current plan.

In memory of Cora, Dawson and baby Callan.

R.F.Hunt is a columnist, freelance journalist and author.

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What the Clancy Case tells us about mental health care as Suicide Prevention Day arrives on October 10th.