Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Neonaticidal Mothers

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence

  • 81 Accesses

Abstract

Neonaticide is the death of a newborn within the first 24 hours of its life. Most neonaticides are committed by the babies’ mothers. The chapter begins by defining passive neonaticide and active neonaticide and the difference between pregnancy denial and pregnancy concealment. The next part of the chapter presents the profile of mothers who committed neonaticide, the motivation for the crime, the most prevalent neonaticidal methods, and the place of the delivery. The final part of the chapter involves a reflection on motherhood as a social and cultural construction and highlights the need for public policies and programs for prevention, reception, and intervention with these vulnerable mothers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 899.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 899.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abrahams N, Mathews S, Martin LJ, Lombard C, Nannan N, Jewkes R (2016) Gender differences in homicide of neonates, infants, and children under 5 y in South Africa: results from the cross-sectional 2009 National Child Homicide Study. PLoS Med 13(4):e1002003

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ambrosini A, Stanghellini G (2012) Myths of motherhood. The role of culture in the development of postpartum depression. Annali dell’Istituto superiore di sanità 48:277–286

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Amon S, Klier CM, Putkonen H, Weizmann-Henelius G, Fernandez Arias P (2020) Neonaticide in the courtroom–room for improvement? Conclusions drawn from Austria and Finland’s register review. Child Abuse Rev 29(1):61–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amon S, Putkonen H, Weizmann-Henelius G, Almiron MP, Formann AK, Voracek M, Eronen M, Yourstone J, Friedrich M, Klier CM (2012) Potential predictors in neonaticide: the impact of the circumstances of pregnancy. Arch Womens Ment Health 15(3):167–174

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Badinter E (1985) O mito do amor materno: Um amor conquistado. Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro

    Google Scholar 

  • Beier KM, Wille R, Wessel J (2006) Denial of pregnancy as a reproductive dysfunction: a proposal for international classification systems. J Psychosom Res 61(5):723–730

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beyer K, McAuliffe Mack S, Shelton JL (2008) Investigative analysis of neonaticide: an exploratory study. Crim Justice Behav 35(4):522–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brozovsky M, Falit H (1971) Neonaticide: clinical and psychodynamic considerations. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry 10:673–683

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Câmara CK, Graça O, Costa T, Santos J (2015) Uma década de neonaticídios na grande Lisboa: contributos da Psicologia e Psiquiatria. Psiquiatria, Psicologia e Justiça:4–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Ciani ASC, Fontanesi L (2012) Mothers who kill their offspring: testing evolutionary hypothesis in a 110-case Italian sample. Child Abuse Negl 36(6):519–527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Orbán PT (1979) Women who kill their children. Br J Psychiatry 134(6):560–571

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman SH, Cavney J, Resnick PJ (2012) Mothers who kill: evolutionary underpinnings and infanticide law. Behav Sci Law 30(5):585–597

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herman-Giddens ME, Smith JB, Mittal M, Carlson M, Butts JD (2003) Newborns killed or left to die by a parent: a population-based study. JAMA 289(11):1425–1429

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jung K, Kim H, Lee E, Choi I, Lim H, Lee B, Choi B, Kim J, Kim H, Hong HG (2020) Cluster analysis of child homicide in South Korea. Child Abuse Negl 101:104322

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klier CM, Amon S, Putkonen H, Fernandez Arias P, Weizmann-Henelius G (2019) Repeated neonaticide: differences and similarities to single neonaticide events. Arch Womens Ment Health 22(1):159–164

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kohm LM, Liverman TS (2002) Prom mom killers: the impact of blame shift and distorted statistics on punishment for neonaticide. William Mary J Women Law 9:43

    Google Scholar 

  • Krüger P (2015) Prevalence and phenomenology of neonaticide in Switzerland 1980–2010: a retrospective study. Violence Vict 30(2):194–207

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lee ACW, Li CH, Kwong NS, So KT (2006) Neonaticide, newborn abandonment, and denial of pregnancy—newborn victimisation associated with unwanted motherhood. Hong Kong Med J 12(1):61–64

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marcikić M, Dumenčić B, Matuzalem E, Marjanović K, Požgain I, Ugljarević M (2006) Infanticide in eastern Croatia. Coll Antropol 30(2):437–442

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McClain LC (1996) Irresponsible reproduction. Hastings Law J 47:339–453

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendlowicz MV, Rapaport MH, Mecler K, Golshan S, Moraes TM (1998) A case-control study on the socio-demographic characteristics of 53 neonaticidal mothers. Int J Law Psychiatry 21(2):209–219

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oberman M (1996) Mothers who kill: coming to terms with modern American infanticide. Am Crim Law Rev 34:2–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter T, Gavin H (2010) Infanticide and neonaticide: a review of 40 years of research literature on incidence and causes. Trauma Violence Abuse 11(3):99–112

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Resnick PJ (1970) Murder of the newborn: a psychiatric review of neonaticide. Am J Psychiatr 126(10):1414–1420

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riley L (2006) Neonaticide. J Hum Behav Soc Environ 12(4):1–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohde A, Raic D, Varchmin-Schultheiß K, Marneros A (1998) Infanticide: sociobiographical background and motivational aspects. Arch Womens Ment Health 1(3):125–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saavedra L, Cameira M (2018) Deconstructing idealized motherhood: the extreme case of neonaticidal women. Fem Criminol 13(5):543–559

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spinelli MG (2001) A systematic investigation of 16 cases of neonaticide. Am J Psychiatr 158(5):811–813

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stenton S, Cohen MC (2020) Assessment of neonaticide in the setting of concealed and denied pregnancies. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 16(2):226–233

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tursz A, Cook JM (2011) A population-based survey of neonaticides using judicial data. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 96(4):F259–F263

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vellut N, Cook JM, Tursz A (2012) Analysis of the relationship between neonaticide and denial of pregnancy using data from judicial files. Child Abuse Negl 36(7–8):553–563

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wessel J, Endrikat J, Büscher U (2003) Elevated risk for neonatal outcome following denial of pregnancy: results of a one-year prospective study compared with control groups. J Perinat Med 31:29–35

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshiba K (2020) Neonaticide rate unchanged in Japan despite a decrease in the birth rate. Pediatr Int Child Health 40(4):238–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Federal University of Delta of Parnaíba, Parnaiba, PI, Brazil

    Liene Martha Leal & Liege Martha Leal Matos

Authors
  1. Liene Martha Leal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Liege Martha Leal Matos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liene Martha Leal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Health and Wellbeing, University of Suffolk, Ipswich, UK

    Colin R. Martin

  2. Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London, UK

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. School of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, London, UK

    Vinood B. Patel

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Leal, L.M., Matos, L.M.L. (2023). Neonaticidal Mothers. In: Martin, C.R., Preedy, V.R., Patel, V.B. (eds) Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31547-3_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation