IT WAS a trial that left many with mixed feelings.
There was the horror of hearing how a mother killed her own children by strangling and smothering them. But there was also sympathy for a woman who wasn’t coping mentally and had little support. After Lauren Dickason was found guilty in a New Zealand court of the murder of her three children, her parents released a statement asking people to be more aware of the symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD).
“This was not our daughter, but a debilitating mental illness which resulted in an awful tragedy,” Wendy and Malcolm Fawkes said. “The person experiencing depression and those closest to them may not be able to recognise the signs or how serious postpartum depression can become.”
Kirsten Small*
