Postpartum Depression Alliance of Illinois
PPDIL HELPLINE: 847-205-4455
66 Dundee Rd #502, Northbrook, IL 60062

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Debra Gindorf Receives Clemency From Governor Quinn

Debra received a life sentence for infanticide in 1985. We have been staunch advocates for her clemency and have been collecting signitures to petition IL Governors for the past few years. No one raised a postpartum depression defense for her at the time of her conviction although many mental health experts since have evaluated her and concluded that she most likely suffered from postpartum psychosis or a severe PPD and was not in her right mind at the time.

Only a very small percentage of women experience postpartum psychosis (1 in every 1000) and out of that 1% of women there is a 5% infanticide/suicide rate. Therefore the vast majority of women effected by PPMDs are not at risk for harming themselves or their baby.

We want to emphasis that we need prevention, identification and treatment for women who suffer postpartum mood disorders not punishment.

          Dr. Sarah Allen, Chair PPD IL Alliance 

Follow the link below to the SunTimes article appearing May 1, 2009:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1554450,quinn-commutes-post-partum-woman-050109.article

or read it here:

Quinn commutes sentence of post-partum mom who killed kids

Gov. Quinn on Friday commuted the life prison sentence of a woman who killed her children in 1985 while in the throes of postpartum depression.

Debra Gindorf, 45, was 20 when she gave her 3-month-old son, Jason, and 23-month-old daughter, Christina, overdoses of sleeping medication in her apartment in north suburban Zion.

Debra Gindorf, 45, was 20 when she gave her 3-month-old son Jason and her 23-month-old daughter in Zion. Gov. Quinn today commuted her life prison sentence. In 1986, Gindorf was found guilty but mentally ill.
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times file)

In 1986, Gindorf was found guilty but mentally ill. She was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Under Quinn's commutation, she is to be released from Dwight Correctional Center later this month.

Two women who fought for Gindorf's release -- Carol Blocker, who lost her daughter to postpartum illness, and Sarah D. Allen, a psychologist who heads the Postpartum Depression Illinois Alliance -- were ebullient about Quinn's decision. It comes amid a growing awareness of how severely the illness can affect behavior.

"Oh my god, my heart is just racing. I didn't think Quinn would do it," said Blocker, whose daughter Melanie Blocker Stokes jumped from the 12th floor of a Chicago Days Inn in 2001 shortly after giving birth. "It means that he has common sense and he has a heart."

Rep. Bobby Rush, who has championed postpartum-awareness issues in Congress, said Quinn's move is unprecedented in Illinois and "a significant step in recognizing some of the important issues as they relate to new mothers' health."

Whether there will be any backlash against Quinn -- until recently, sympathy for postpartum moms who killed their kids has been scant -- remains to be seen. His office declined to comment about Gindorf, whose clemency petition was among 18 the governor acted upon Friday.

"The action, we feel, speaks for itself," Quinn spokesman Bob Reed said.

No one raised postpartum depression as a defense at the time of Gindorf's conviction, including her attorney. But since then, all nine mental health experts who evaluated her determined she most likely suffered from postpartum psychosis.

Kathleen Hamill, Gindorf's current lawyer, said she had not yet spoken to her client but thinks Gindorf will function well in society.

"She is a good-hearted person and has been taking college courses" in prison, Hamill said.

But when Gindorf killed her children, she was in a "crazed thought system where she believed the world was a terrible place. She wanted to take her children to heaven with her," Hamill said.

Gindorf -- whose marriage to an abusive husband had ended in divorce when she was pregnant with her son -- swallowed sleeping pills and several shots of Southern Comfort. She testified that she laid down next to her kids, kissed them and told them, "We are going to be happy."

In the morning, she awoke to her dead children. Later that day, she turned herself in to Zion police.

Gindorf's latest hearing before the state prisoner review board was in 2003, when Blocker called for Gindorf's release. Rod Blagojevich was governor at the time, and Gindorf remained in prison.

Allen said she hopes Gindorf's release will shine a spotlight on postpartum issues: In 2006, as many as 36,100 mothers statewide "struggled with moderate to severe postpartum emotional symptoms," Allen said.

For Blocker, Gindorf's release offers hope that six other imprisoned postpartum moms she communicates with regularly might also be released. It stirred up thoughts of her vivacious daughter, whose suicide at age 41 shocked Chicagoans.

"Melanie is inspiring me," Blocker said. "I can almost hear her voice saying, 'Mommy, don't stop. You saw what it did to me. Please help these women.' "

Carol Blocker Continues to Push for Postpartum Depression Screening & Education From Postpartum Progress

Postpartum Depression: Real, But Still Stigmatized From World of Psychology

Home | What is PPD? | Getting help for PPD | PPD EVENTS | Useful PPD Links | PPD in the News | PPDIL Donations  Membership | Committee | IL Proclamation | Bill Alert | Melanie Stokes | Debra Gindorf | Downloads

CONTACT
PPDIL HELPLINE: 847-205-4455
66 Dundee Rd #502, Northbrook, IL 60062
Email: Dr. Sarah Allen

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Last updated: 04/25/09