Three important research papers and why recent media coverage can be particularly difficult for people experiencing postpartum OCD.
If you have experienced an intrusive thought about your baby, the postpartum period can feel frightening when OCD gets involved.
- What if I hurt my baby?
- What if I lose control?
- What if this thought means I’m dangerous?
- What if I’m developing postpartum psychosis?
- What if I become like someone I’ve read about in the news?
For OCD, these questions can quickly become a search for certainty that never feels complete.
The recent high-profile Lindsay Clancy trial has brought postpartum psychosis into the media spotlight. Her defence has argued that she experienced postpartum psychosis when her children died; the case has understandably prompted significant discussion about maternal mental health.
But a courtroom case is not a clinical diagnostic guide.
And for someone experiencing postpartum OCD, one distinction is particularly important:
An intrusive thought about harming your baby is not the same thing as postpartum psychosis.
Let’s look at what the research actually tells us.
1. Intrusive thoughts after having a baby are extremely common
A particularly relevant recent study is Foreman et al., “Postnatal Intrusive Thoughts and Psychotic-Like Experiences: Exploring Associations with Parenting Experiences and Mental Health.”
The study included 349 postnatal parents with babies aged 12 months or younger.
The findings are striking:
- 96% reported at least one intrusive thought.
- 90.8% reported distress associated with their intrusive thoughts.
- 95% reported using some behaviour to cope with them.
- The most commonly reported intrusive thought involved the baby stopping breathing.
The important point is that intrusive thoughts themselves are not unusual during the postnatal period.
The researchers also discuss previous evidence showing that intrusive thoughts concerning infant harm are not, by themselves, evidence of an increased risk of harming an infant.
A thought is not an intention.
- An image of dropping your baby is not the same as wanting to drop your baby.
- A sudden thought about stabbing your baby is not evidence that you secretly want to do it.
- An image of your baby falling down the stairs is not a prediction that it will happen.
With OCD, the difficulty is often not the thought itself but the meaning we give the thought.
2. Postpartum OCD and postpartum psychosis are different conditions
This distinction matters enormously.
Perinatal OCD commonly involves unwanted, intrusive thoughts or images about harm coming to the baby, alongside compulsions such as checking, avoidance, reassurance seeking or mental rituals.
Postpartum psychosis is different.
Clinicians consider the whole clinical picture, including whether someone is experiencing symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, severe confusion, significant mood disturbance or a loss of contact with reality.
The content of a thought alone cannot tell us whether someone has OCD or psychosis.
That is why proper clinical assessment matters.
You cannot diagnose postpartum psychosis simply because someone reports a frightening thought about their baby.
3. What does the research say about treatment?
A Delphi consensus study brought together 15 professionals with expertise in perinatal OCD and 14 people with lived experience.
The group developed 102 recommendations covering assessment, psychoeducation, differential diagnosis and treatment.
One of the clearest recommendations was that CBT incorporating exposure and response prevention (ERP) should be offered as a first-line psychological treatment for perinatal OCD.
ERP is not about putting a baby in danger or encouraging someone to act on an intrusive thought.
It is about understanding the OCD cycle and gradually reducing the compulsive behaviours that keep it going.
For example:
Intrusive thought → catastrophic interpretation → anxiety → checking/reassurance/avoidance → temporary relief → stronger OCD
Therapy works towards breaking that cycle.
A closer look at the 2026 Foreman study
There is one part of this study that deserves particular attention because it could easily be misunderstood online.
Approximately 30% of participants crossed a screening threshold for potential psychotic risk.
If you have OCD, you might immediately think:
“Does that mean I have a 30% chance of developing postpartum psychosis?”
No. That is not what the study found.
The researchers used a screening measure for psychotic-like experiences, not a diagnosis of postpartum psychosis.
The study was also cross-sectional, meaning participants were assessed at one point in time. They were not followed into the future to determine how many subsequently developed psychosis.
So the 30% figure cannot be interpreted as a 30% chance of developing postpartum psychosis.
This is a really important distinction when reading research online.
The study is valuable — but its findings need to be interpreted within its methodology and limitations.
Why the current media coverage can trigger OCD
OCD thrives on uncertainty.
A news story about a rare and devastating outcome can quickly become:
“If this happened to someone else, could it happen to me?”
You may begin checking:
- Did I just hear something?
- Am I losing control?
- Do I feel different?
- Could I become psychotic?
- Am I safe to be alone with my baby?
You might repeatedly Google symptoms or ask your partner for reassurance.
Unfortunately, these attempts to obtain certainty can themselves become OCD compulsions.
The answer isn’t to promise:
“You will definitely never develop psychosis.”
That would give OCD the certainty it is demanding.
Instead:
“Let’s understand what you’re experiencing, assess it appropriately, and respond to the symptoms that are actually present.”
What I would want someone with postpartum OCD to know
If the recent media coverage has made your OCD louder, remember:
You are not the story you’ve read in the news.
Someone else’s psychiatric history, circumstances and behaviour cannot be used to predict yours.
An intrusive thought does not automatically mean you want something to happen.
- You don’t need to analyse every thought.
- You don’t need to repeatedly test whether you’re “losing your mind.”
- And you don’t need to achieve 100% certainty about your future.
That is the certainty OCD will always demand.
Instead, the goal is to understand the OCD cycle and gradually build the confidence to experience uncertainty without allowing OCD to dictate your behaviour.
When should you seek urgent help?
Postpartum psychosis is rare but serious and requires urgent assessment.
If you or someone you know is experiencing hallucinations, severe confusion, significant changes in behaviour or a marked loss of contact with reality, seek urgent medical or mental-health support.
At the same time, it is important that ordinary intrusive thoughts are not automatically interpreted as psychosis.
Accurate information, careful assessment and appropriate treatment matter.
Contact
If you’re struggling with postpartum OCD, you don’t have to work it out alone. Specialist assessment and evidence-based treatment can help.
Email: info@homebasedtalkingtherapy.com to schedule an assessment.
The research
Foreman et al. (2025/2026)
Postnatal Intrusive Thoughts and Psychotic-Like Experiences: Exploring Associations with Parenting Experiences and Mental Health.
Community Mental Health Journal.
A useful recent study exploring intrusive thoughts and psychotic-like experiences in 349 postnatal parents.
Ferra et al. (2024)
Exploring the clinical features of postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder: A systematic review.
European Journal of Psychiatry.
A systematic review examining the clinical features and presentation of postpartum OCD.
Mulcahy et al. (2023)
Consensus recommendations for the assessment and treatment of perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): A Delphi study.
Archives of Women’s Mental Health.
A consensus study involving clinicians and people with lived experience, producing 102 recommendations for perinatal OCD care.
Further reading
Hudepohl, MacLean & Osborne.
Perinatal Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder: Epidemiology, Phenomenology, Etiology, and Treatment.
This blog is for educational purposes and does not replace an individual clinical assessment. If you believe you or someone else may be experiencing postpartum psychosis or another psychiatric emergency, seek urgent professional help.