Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey is pushing to expand free nurse home visits to all new mothers in the state, following the high-profile trial of Lindsay Clancy, a former labour and delivery nurse accused of strangling her three young children. Clancy argued she was suffering postpartum psychosis brought on by overmedication, and while 11 of 12 jurors were persuaded she was not guilty by reason of insanity, one holdout led the judge to declare a mistrial. Healey said the case has intensified national conversation around postpartum mental health and prompted her to seek broader support and screening for new parents.

Under the proposal, Massachusetts would invest $2 million to offer voluntary home visits to families of the roughly 68,000 babies born in the state each year, expanding a federally funded scheme currently reaching about 3,000 families. Visiting nurses would advise on feeding, sleep and infant care while also monitoring mothers' health and screening for depression or other conditions. Healey also proposed $250,000 for a psychiatry access programme to track postpartum psychosis data and train clinicians, alongside wider screening for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, building on earlier moves such as extending MassHealth postpartum coverage to 12 months.