Daily AncestorPuerperal mania
Puerperal mania was the 1800s name for a sudden severe mental illness in a mother shortly after childbirth, now called postpartum psychosis.
Puerperal refers to childbirth and mania to madness. Today the condition is called postpartum or puerperal psychosis and is understood as childbirth triggering an illness close to bipolar disorder.
In a famous English divorce case a jury found that the wife, Lady Mordaunt, had puerperal mania, and she was committed to an asylum. On an American record it may appear in an asylum register or on the death record of a young mother.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Ellen Sipe, 26, F, W, Puerperal mania
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Daily Ancestor. "Puerperal mania." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/puerperal-mania. Last checked 2026-10-10.