Adaure Dankwa, 38, said she was ‘gripped by fear’New mum thought mother-in-law was trying to poison her
A mother was sectioned following both of her pregnancies when postpartum psychosis left her convinced her mother-in-law had attempted to poison her and wholly believing the world was coming to an end. Adaure Dankwa, 38, became severely paranoid after her first pregnancy, prompting her husband Emmanuel, 35, an IT auditor, to rush her to A&E eight weeks after she gave birth – after she began destroying their home in Rainham, Kent.
She was sectioned and transferred to a mental health facility, where she became violent towards staff and started fighting imaginary snakes. The project manager spent two months in the unit separated from her baby boy, Junior, now four. When her second child, Amara, now one, was born, the postpartum psychosis returned – triggering hallucinations that her mother-in-law had poisoned her.
Fearing Adaure might harm herself or their children, Emmanuel once again sought help to have her sectioned. She endured a further two months in a mental health unit and revealed she was left feeling suicidal following her discharge.
Adaure’s postpartum psychosis left her convinced the world was ending, and caused her husband to fear she would harm their children(Image: SWNS)
Adaure has since made a full recovery, and while she wishes the ordeal had never occurred, she believes it has ultimately shaped her into a stronger person. Adaure said: “Two months after my first pregnancy, I started to get paranoid that people were watching me.
“Then I started having nightmares about my family trying to suffocate me and attacking me with knives. I then 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. 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. In the mental health unit I was extremely violent to staff, I kept saying I wanted to kill myself.
“I remember going for a poo on the floor, weeing on myself and trying to fight imaginary snakes. I was scared of having more children, as there’s a 50% chance it could happen again.
“I didn’t want to let the fear get to me, but six weeks after giving birth again, I had another psychotic episode. I accused my mother-in-law of trying to poison me. In the hospital I was so violent, I was scaring patients.
“I pulled one lady’s wig off, I damaged the bed frames and pulled the curtains down. I’m finally back to myself now. This experience has helped me to look at the world in a completely different way.
“Would I have liked it to happen to me twice? Hell no, but I think it’s shaped me for the better. It’s part of my journey.”
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Adaure welcomed her first child, Junior, in December 2021, experiencing no complications whatsoever during her pregnancy or delivery. However, roughly two months after giving birth, in February 2022, she began suffering severe paranoia that she was being watched and was plagued by nightmares in which her family were hurting her. “I felt like the whole world was crumbling, and everyone was against me,” she said. Adaure then stopped brushing her teeth and bathing altogether, and when her husband asked her questions, she was unable to respond coherently.
As her condition deteriorated, she began hallucinating that the world was coming to an end, and that she had been chosen by God. In a panic, Adaure’s husband urged her to sleep, but she was unable to, and shortly afterwards she began hurling objects to the floor and destroying the kitchen.
Emmanuel attempted to restrain her out of fear she would harm the baby, and made the decision to take her to A&E. At the hospital, Adaure was still experiencing severe hallucinations, and became convinced the world was ending as a result of a cyber-attack.
Adaure was sectioned and taken to a mental health facility, where she was violent towards staff and began fighting imaginary snakes(Image: SWNS)
“My brain was going at a million miles per hour,” she said. Doctors transferred Adaure to a mental health unit, where she was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis and sectioned.
Within the mental health unit, Adaure recalls being extremely aggressive towards staff members and screaming that she wanted to kill herself. Due to the severity of her condition, she was placed in seclusion and began frantically running around the room, rubbing food in her hair, defecating on the floor, urinating on herself and attempting to fight imaginary snakes. Adaure was administered haloperidol — an antipsychotic medication that helps to reduce hallucinations and delusions — and gradually she began to return to her former self. She spent two months in the facility, and upon returning home, fell into a deep depression, terrified to be left alone with her baby.
“I was suicidal, I just wanted to jump in front of a train,” she said. “Never in a million years did I think I would have a psychotic episode.”
It took 18 months before Adaure truly began to feel like herself again, and she became gripped by fear at the prospect of having another child, given that there is a 50% chance of experiencing postpartum psychosis again following a previous episode.
Adaure Dankwa(Image: SWNS)
Yet, refusing to let fear hold her back, she and Emmanuel decided to try for a second child, and Adaure welcomed baby Amara in October 2024. Just six weeks after giving birth, in November 2024, Adaure began suffering from severe paranoia once more, accusing her mother-in-law of attempting to poison her.
She was admitted to a mother and baby unit for treatment, but became so severely aggressive during her stay that she was unable to keep her child with her. While in the unit, Adaure recalls being intensely violent, causing damage to property and even pulling a woman’s wig off. She would spit out her medication and eventually suffered a seizure after repeatedly banging her head against the floor. Adaure was subsequently transferred to a mental health facility in London, where she was sectioned once more and prescribed anti-psychotic medication.
“I remember punching walls, I had so many bruises on my knuckles,” she said. “They had to sedate me so heavily that I hardly remember anything.”
She spent a further two months in the unit before being discharged in January 2025. Upon leaving, Adaure felt suicidal once again and was reluctant to take on the responsibility of being alone with her children.
Fortunately, Emmanuel’s parents were on hand to assist with childcare, and she finally began to feel “normal” again in October 2025. Adaure has since come off her medication and feels ready to return to work.
She and her husband have made the firm decision not to have any more children, given the risk of another psychotic episode. While she wishes it had never happened, she believes that postpartum psychosis has shaped her for the better, giving her an entirely new perspective on life.
Emmanuel said: “It was a challenging experience when you have to think about your wife’s wellbeing and the kid’s wellbeing. 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. It was easier to support her through it the second time though, as I was aware of what to expect from the first time.”