Postpartum psychosis can strike mothers again, as Adaure Dankwa experienced. The 38-year-old from Kent suffered the devastating mental health condition twice — once after the birth of each of her two children — and now lives with the knowledge that a 50 per cent chance of recurrence accompanied every pregnancy. Despite the risks, she and her husband Emmanuel decided to expand their family, a decision that led to a second psychotic episode and another fight for recovery.
First episode: a sudden descent into psychosis
Adaure’s first encounter with postpartum psychosis began about two months after she gave birth to her son, Junior, in February 2022. The pregnancy had been unremarkable, but once the baby was home she started to feel that “my brain was going at a million miles per hour”. She stopped brushing her teeth, stopped washing, and found it impossible to hold a coherent conversation with her husband, Emmanuel, then 35.
“I felt like the whole world was crumbling, and everyone was against me,” she said. Paranoia took hold: she became convinced that people were watching her. Nightmares followed in which family members tried to suffocate her or attack her with knives. Soon she began hallucinating that the world was ending. “I thought I was the chosen one and that I was about to give birth to baby Jesus,” she recalled.
Postpartum psychosis is a rare but severe mental health illness that affects around 1 in every 1,000 mothers after giving birth. It is distinct from the “baby blues” or postnatal depression — it is acute, sudden, and can include mania, deep depression, and psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. Sufferers may experience racing thoughts, restlessness, extreme confusion, and a lack of insight into their own condition. In Adaure’s case, the illness escalated rapidly.
One violent episode forced Emmanuel to intervene. “I started pushing objects on to the floor, and my husband had to restrain me, because he thought I was going to harm the baby,” Adaure said. He rushed her to A&E, where doctors diagnosed postpartum psychosis. She was soon sectioned and admitted to a mental health ward — separated from her infant son for two months.
Inside the ward, Adaure describes being “extremely violent to staff”. “I kept saying I wanted to kill myself. I accused my mother-in-law of trying to poison me. I remember going for a poo on the floor, weeing on myself and trying to fight imaginary snakes.” Doctors prescribed haloperidol, an antipsychotic medication used to reduce hallucinations and delusions, and slowly she began to regain her sense of reality.
Even after returning home, Adaure felt “extremely depressed” and was terrified of being left alone with Junior. “I was suicidal, I just wanted to jump in front of a train,” she said. It took 18 months of gradual recuperation before she began to feel like herself again. Yet despite the trauma, she found herself longing for another child.
The condition returns
Adaure knew the statistics: a woman who has experienced postpartum psychosis once has a 50 per cent chance of developing it again after another pregnancy. But she and Emmanuel were determined not to let fear dictate their lives. They decided to try for a second baby, and Adaure gave birth to a daughter, Amara, in October 2024.
Just six weeks later, in November 2024, the paranoia returned. “In the hospital I was so violent, I was scaring patients,” she said. “I remember punching walls, I had so many bruises on my knuckles.” She would spit out her medication. In one frightening episode she repeatedly banged her head against the floor, triggering a seizure. Again, Emmanuel was forced to call for help, and Adaure was taken to a mother and baby unit — the preferred setting for treating perinatal psychosis because it allows mothers to stay with their infants while receiving care.
When her behaviour proved too difficult to manage, she was transferred to a mental health facility in London, where she was sectioned for a second time. “I pulled one lady’s wig off, I damaged the bed frames and pulled the curtains down,” she said. “They had to sedate me so heavily that I hardly remember anything.” She spent another two months in the unit before being released in January 2025.
The second episode mirrored the first in many ways: the same delusions of poisoning by her mother-in-law, the same violent outbursts, the same helplessness. But according to Emmanuel, there was one difference — he was better prepared. “It was easier to support her through it the second time though, as I was aware of what to expect from the first time,” he said. “I supported her through it by exercising patience and offering her the assurance that things would get better. I often used to engage her in activities to take her mind away from her condition like walks, binge watching her favourite TV shows.”
Recovery and the husband’s role
After leaving the unit, Adaure felt suicidal again and unprepared to be alone with her two children. “It was a challenging experience when you have to think about your wife’s wellbeing and the kid’s wellbeing,” Emmanuel said. Fortunately, his parents stepped in to help with childcare, giving Adaure the space to heal. She finally began to feel “normal” again in October 2025 — a full year after Amara’s birth.
Now in full recovery, Adaure is off all medication and feels ready to return to work. “I’m finally back to myself now,” she said. “This experience has helped me to look at the world in a completely different way. It’s shaped me for the better.”
She and Emmanuel have decided against expanding the family any further, unwilling to risk another psychotic episode. The 50 per cent recurrence rate is a stark reality, but with proper planning and specialist perinatal mental health teams — such as those in Mother and Baby Units — the risks can be managed and help accessed more quickly. Adaure’s willingness to share her story is part of breaking the stigma around postpartum psychosis, a condition that, while rare, can devastate families if left untreated.
For anyone needing support, the mental health charity Mind can be reached on 0300 123 3393 or by email at [email protected]. More information about postpartum psychosis is available on the NHS website.