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Violence, & Abuse

Infanticide and Neonaticide: A Review of 40 Years of Research Literature on Incidence and Causes
Theresa Porter and Helen Gavin
Trauma Violence Abuse 2010 11: 99
DOI: 10.1177/1524838010371950

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Articles
TRAUMA, VIOLENCE, & ABUSE
11(3) 99-112
Infanticide and Neonaticide: A Review of ª The Author(s) 2010
Reprints and permission:
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40 Years of Research Literature on DOI: 10.1177/1524838010371950
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Incidence and Causes

Theresa Porter, PsyD1, and Helen Gavin, PhD2

Abstract
The prevailing public view on women who kill their babies is that they are either monsters or psychotic, or both. The psychiatric
and legal communities recognize that the issue is not as simply dichotomous as this. Evidence suggests that there are important
distinctions to be drawn between different types of baby deaths and that this may have implications for identification, punishment,
and/or treatment of potential and actual perpetrators. This article reviews and summarizes research, incidence statistics, and
judicial and clinical outcomes ranging over four decades of work and sets out various ways forward in the study and
prevention of infant murder.

Keywords
anything related to child abuse, criminology, violence exposure, women offenders

Introduction particularly the female or handicapped ones, were left to the

Becky Sue Marrow concealed her pregnancy for 9 months then
dismembered and burned her newborn son. According to her
lawyers, she was in a ‘‘dissociated’’ mental state at the time
of the crime. However, as Marrow had tried to hide a preg-
nancy in the past, had attempted to divert witnesses from the
fire pit where she burned the infant’s corpse, and did not suffer
from any symptoms of amnesia, it is likely that the psychiatrist
was correct when he told the court, ‘‘She had clear insight. She
knew exactly what she was doing’’ (The Canadian Press, 2008).
However, she was only found guilty of ‘‘offering an indignity
to a dead human body and disposing of the dead body of a child
with the intent to conceal its birth’’ and sentenced to 2 months
house arrest (CBC News, 2008).
This case highlights many of the issues involved in infan-
ticide and neonaticide, alleged mental illness, culpability,
recidivism, future risk, pregnancy concealment, and appropri-
ate responses by the courts. This article will review the state
of the research on these issues and provide an analysis for
future directions.
Infanticide and Neonaticide Incidence
Infanticide is the killing of young children, whereas
neonaticide is the killing of the infant within the first 24 hours
after birth. Both should be distinguished from the more gen-
eral term of filicide, which is the killing by a parent of any
child of their own.
The killing of infants and newborns is one of the most com-
mon forms of murder by women. Unwanted babies,
elements in ancient times, possibly with the hope that they
would be taken in by passersby to be raised as slaves, perhaps
with the awareness that they would die from exposure or the
attentions of wild animals. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the
murder of infants and children remains a significant problem.
In the last 30 years, while child deaths due to diseases, accidents,
and congenital defects have decreased (Finkelhor & Ormrod,
2001), the incidence of homicide for children younger than the
age of 1 year has increased in some areas (Finkelhor, 1997) and
is currently estimated to be 8.0 per 100,000 in the United States.
In Canada, however, the incidence is estimated to be less than
3.0 per 100,000 (Hatters-Friedman, Horwitz, & Resnick, 2005).
The majority of the murders of infants and newborns are by
the biological mother. The U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services estimates that, of the 2,000 children killed
annually in the United States, 1,100 are killed by the biological
mother (Kohm & Liverman, 2002). In 1999, in a single U.S.
state, more than 50 infants were abandoned in dumpsters
(McKee, 2006). Furthermore, approximately 31,000 newborns
are abandoned in U.S. hospitals annually (McKee, 2006). Two
separate studies of the infanticide rate in England, Scotland,
1
Connecticut Valley Hospital, Middletown, CT, USA
2
University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Corresponding Author:
Helen Gavin, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1
3DH, United Kingdom
Email: h.gavin@hud.ac.uk

99

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100
Table 1. Incidence of Homicide per 100,000
Author
Siegel et al., 1996
Cummings, Mueller, Theis, & Rivara, 1994
Herman-Giddens, Smith, Mittal, Carlson, & Butts, 2003
Bennet et al., 2006
Marks & Kumar, 1996
Bropokman & Nolan, 2006
P. Dean, 2004
and Wales found that infants less than 1-year old are at 4 times
greater risk of being murdered than any other age group, with the
1st day of life being the highest risk. For Scotland, the rate of
infant murder was 43 per million, compared to the rate of 29 per
million for young adults during the same study period (Marks &
Kumar, 1993, 1996). In Germany, there is a three times higher
homicide risk for infants born to eastern German women than
those born to western German women (Spiegel, 2008).
Examining the incidence statistics is difficult, as this is a
crime that it is either unrecorded or recorded with other
offences. Most countries do not have a government agency
mandated to track infant deaths and when tracking does occur,
it is often as part of an aggregate with other types of death
(Kohm & Liverman, 2002). However, seven incidence studies
between 1994 and 2006 suggest that the rate of infanticide/
neonaticide in industrialized countries (England, Scotland,
Wales, United States, Canada, New Zealand) ranges from
2.4 per 100,000 to 7.0 per 100,000 (see Table 1).
Government statistics on child homicide can be confusing.
First, they are only an accounting of known homicides and it
is likely that infants are the class of homicide victims least
identified due to the ease of hiding the corpse. For example, the
National Center for Health Statistics (United States) discovered
that birth certificates could not be found for 2.8% of all deaths
between 1983 and 1991, with infants less than 30 days old
being the group most commonly missing birth certificates
(Overpeck, Brenner, Trumble, Trifiletti, & Berendes, 1998).
The implication is that these cases represent infants whose
existence was hidden until the corpse was found. Furthermore,
the cause of death of an infant may be difficult to establish and
may be falsely attributed to sudden infant death syndrome
(SIDS). It has been estimated that up to 10% of SIDS cases
are actually undetected homicides (Leven & Bacon, 2004).
Furthermore, due to the 1969 addition of an ‘‘Undetermined’’
category to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD),
as well as many related changes in the standard certificate of
death used in the United States, infant homicides in the United
States may have been disproportionately underrecorded since
1968 (Jason, Carpenter, & Tyler, 1983). This study also reports
a sudden drop in infant homicide rates the year these
classifications were changed, strongly suggesting that, when
given the opportunity, people would rather avoid designating
an infant’s death as a homicide. Furthermore, several studies
have indicated that, despite the medical examiner reporting
grounds for homicide in an infant’s death, the police may not
100
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TRAUMA, VIOLENCE, & ABUSE 11(3)
Nation Incidence Per 100,000
United States 3.1
United States 6.9
United States 2.1
United States 2.5
United Kingdom 4.3
United Kingdom 6.3
New Zealand 4.5
make a report and the local courts may not prosecute the case
(McKee, 2006).
The way sources aggregate information may also be
problematic. The Bureau of Justice Statistics website has a
page listing Homicide Trends in the United States, but it com-
bines deaths by parents with deaths by stepparents, thereby dis-
torting the information. In the United States, stepfathers do
have a high murder rate, but when one compares biological par-
ents, mothers kill their children at a higher rate than fathers
(Kohm & Liverman, 2002).
Characteristics of Neonaticidal Women Versus
Infanticidal Women
Romina Tejerina and Stephanie Collins never met and yet they
share a kind of frightening sisterhood; they both murdered their
newborn babies immediately after giving birth. Tejerina, a
23-year-old Argentine, became pregnant as the result of a
sexual assault and was afraid to tell anyone. Within minutes
of giving birth to a daughter at home, Tejerina stabbed the baby
repeatedly, who died 2 days later (La Nacion, 2005). Collins, a
27-year-old American, had previously had an abortion and
lived in a state with a newborn Safe Haven1 program. Collins
concealed her pregnancy, gave birth out of the hospital, then
immediately killed the newborn boy, and put his body in the
garbage (Angier, 2005). Despite their apparent differences,
these cases represent typical neonaticide; a woman without
mental illness hides an unwanted pregnancy, and when pre-
sented with a newborn infant whose existence she finds unde-
sirable, kills the infant, thereby eliminating her problem.
In 1970, Resnick published his groundbreaking study of
neonaticide. He performed a literature review of documented
newborn murders from the mid-18th century until 1968 in 13
different languages and found that women who kill their new-
borns were substantively different from women who kill their
infants or toddlers. His work has been supported in numerous
other international studies that show that women who murder
newborns tend to be younger than 25 years old, emotionally
immature, unmarried, often living with their parents, unem-
ployed, or attending school (see Table 2). They do not seek pre-
natal care and are often no longer involved with the baby’s
father. For example, Emerick, Foster, and Campbell (1986)
in their study of infant homicides in Oregon found that the
infant deaths were associated with lack of prenatal care and
non-hospital birthing.
Porter and Gavin
Table 2. Age and Marital Status of Neonaticidal Mothers
Author Mean Age Marital Status
Beyer, McAuliffe-Mack, & 21 Single
Shelton, 2008
Bropokman & Nolan, 2006 23
Herman-Giddens, Smith, Mittal, 19 50% single
Carlson,
& Butts, 2003
Lee, Li, Kwong, & So, 2006 17
Silverman & Kennedy, 1988 <25 Single
Haapasalo & Petäjä, 1999 Single
Mendlowicz, Rapaport, Mecler, 22 Single
Golshan,
& Moraes, 1998
Taguchi, 2007 Single
Resnick (1970) and several other studies have confirmed
that the majority of neonaticidal women are not mentally ill
at the time of the murder and maternal suicide after neonaticide
is rare. Hatters-Friedman, Heneghan, and Rosenthal (2007), in
their review of 81 women who either denied or concealed their
pregnancies, found that none had psychotic denial and a psy-
chiatry consult was only requested on four of the women. In
2001, Meyer and Oberman reviewed 37 cases of neonaticide
and found that most of the perpetrators did not have a major
mental illness. In D’Orban’s British study, she found that the
majority of the neonaticidal women were not suffering from
psychosis or depression. Haapasalo and Petäjä (1999), in their
Finnish study of 15 neonaticides, proposed that mental illness
was not a relevant variable, with less than 30% of the women
claiming any psychological issues. Similarly, the Finnish sam-
ple of Putkonen, Collander, Weizmann-Henelius, and Eronen
(2007) of 14 psychiatrically evaluated cases found only four
cases with psychotic symptoms.
The majority of infants killed in the 1st day are born out of a
hospital, usually at the woman’s home (Paulozzi & Sells, 2002),
although there are recorded cases of neonaticides in birthing
units (Mendlowicz, da Silva, Gekker, de Moreas, Rapaport, &
Jean-Louis, 2000, cited in Hatters-Friedman & Resnick,
2009). Newborns who are the second child of a woman under
age 19 are at an increased risk of homicide (Overpeck cited in
Spinelli, 2003). The hallmark example of neonaticide is that the
newborn is unwanted and so the woman, after concealing
the pregnancy for 9 months, gives birth alone, and then kills
the newborn via non-weapon methods such as suffocation,
strangulation, or drowning (Meyer & Oberman, 2001).
Women who murder infants who are older than 1 day are
significantly different to women who murder newborns. They
tend to be older than 25, use weapon as well as non-weapon
methods of murder, are often married, and well educated
(Resnick, 1970; see Table 3).
These women tend to premeditate their murders (Logan,
1995, in Dalley, 1997) and may murder the infant as retaliation
against another person, during an episode of abuse, or to
remove an unwanted child (D’Orban, 1979).
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101
Table 3. Age of Infanticidal Women
Authors Mean Age
Kauppi, Kumpulainen, Vanamo, Merikanto, 28.5
& Karkola, 2008
Krischer, Stone, Sevecke, & Steinmeyer, 2007 30
Lewis & Bunce, 2003 28.2
Mulryan, Gibbons, & O’Connors, 2002 30.5
Mental Illness and Infanticide
In 2004, 35-year-old Texan Dena Schlosser heard voices com-
manding her to remove the arms of her 11-month-old daughter
as a sacrifice to god, and she obeyed the voices. This was not
Schlosser’s first psychotic episode. She had another psychotic
episode after the birth of her middle child, which resulted in
both a hospitalization and an investigation by child protective
services (CPS). However, the case was closed after 7 months
and CPS concluded that Schlosser was not a threat to her chil-
dren. After the death of her daughter, Schlosser was diagnosed
with bipolar disorder, found not guilty by reason of insanity,
and sent to the North Texas State Hospital. She was later
released by court order to outpatient care. The judge, perhaps
mindful of the infamous Yates2 case, mandated that Schlosser
not only attend weekly psychiatric treatment but also comply
with compulsory medication and birth control (Hundley, 2008).
A subset of women who murder their infants do have a defi-
nitive mental illness that can be shown to have strongly influ-
enced their behaviors. For example, in the study by Kauppi,
Kumpulainen, Vanamo, Merikanto, and Karkola (2008) of 10
Scandinavian women who murdered infants, 6 had psychotic
symptoms, and in the study by Lewis and Bunce (2003) of
55 filicidal women, 52.7% were psychotic. In the study by
Krisher, Stone, Sevecke, and Steinmeyer (2007) of 57 infanti-
cidal women, 24% were initially found incompetent to stand
trial due to mental illness.
However, as with neonaticides, a large number of infanti-
cide cases do not involve a severe mental illness that pre-
cluded the woman from being aware of the wrongfulness of
her actions (Hatters-Friedman & Resnick, 2009). For exam-
ple, Beyer, Mcauliffe-Mack, and Shelton (2008) suggested
that all of the 40 infanticidal women in their sample had per-
sonal gain for their actions, that is, living their lives unencum-
bered by an infant. Bourget, Grace, and Whitehurst (2007)
noted that suicide is much lower among infanticidal women
than among women who murder older children. In the British
study by D’Orban (1979), only 26% of the 89 cases involved
mental illness; 60% of the infanticides were for other reasons,
such as revenge against the infant’s father or to remove an
unwanted infant.
Other factors besides severe mental illness are involved in
infanticide. For example, Spinelli (2003) reports that women
who drop out of school are eight times more likely to murder
their infant than women who had a college education, even
when age is controlled. Furthermore, research has found that
101
102
infanticide is associated with the woman’s anger. Krischer,
Stone, Sevecke, and Steinmeyer (2007) in a cluster analysis
of 57 infanticidal and neonaticidal women found that infanti-
cide was associated with the woman’s anger as well as her
youth. Two separate studies reported women in their samples,
who were not designated as mentally ill admitted to having fan-
tasies of harming their infants (Jennings, Ross, Popper, &
Elmore, 1999; Levitzky & Cooper, 2000). Jennings et al.
(1999) compared clinically depressed and non-depressed moth-
ers and found that 7% of the non-depressed women admitted to
having thoughts of harming their offspring. Levitzky and
Cooper (2000) questioned 23 women with infants experiencing
colic syndrome and found that 70% reported explicit fantasies
and thoughts of aggression toward the infant, but only 26% said
the thoughts solely occurred during a colic episode. There are
also no major distinctions in other factors, for example, person-
ality test results for women who murdered their children do not
significantly differ from those of women who murder adults
(McKee, Shea, Mogy, & Holden, 2001).
Often, infanticide is attributed to a woman being in a post-
partum state of extreme hormonal fluctuation. However, there
have been surprisingly few studies in this area and those that
exist largely show that hormone changes do not have a signif-
icant impact on a woman’s mental health, despite long-
standing assumptions to the contrary (Wisner & Stowe,
1997). For example, Harris’ (1994) review reported that no
association had been found between progesterone, estrogen,
or cortisol and postpartum mood or psychosis. In 1997, Wisner
and Stowe reported that studies to date had shown a lack of evi-
dence that serum levels of gonadal hormones account for mood
disturbance in women. C. Kumar et al. (2003) studied 29
women with clinical histories of mania, hypomania, or schi-
zoaffective episodes during pregnancy. The women were
given transdermal regimens of estrogen in either 200, 400, or
800 μg/day within 48 hrs of delivery, tapered by one half every
4 days, for total of 12 days. A neuroendocrine challenge test
was used on the fourth day. Not one of the dosages was found
to reduce the rate of relapse during a postpartum interval in
these women. To date, there has not been a definitive study that
showed conclusively that the hormonal changes associated
with childbirth cause clinical-level mood changes.
The terms ‘‘baby blues,’’ ‘‘postpartum depression,’’ and
‘‘postpartum psychosis’’ are often used as if synonymous,
despite their significant differences. The ‘‘blues’’ are the most
common, occurring in between 25% and 85% of women. These
mild symptoms of crying and irritability begin within a few
days of childbirth and end by the 2nd week (Dobson & Sales,
2000).
Depression, a clinical diagnosis that meets the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition,
Text Revision; DSM-IV-TR) standards, affects between 7% and
19% of women and generally lasts up to a few months
(Campbell & Cohn, 1991). Despite being temporally associated
with childbirth, multiple studies have shown that this is not a
form of mental illness specific to postpartum women. For
example, Cooper, Campbell, Day, Kennerly, and Bond (1988),
102
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TRAUMA, VIOLENCE, & ABUSE 11(3)
in their examination of 483 postnatal women, found that the
prevalence and incidence of non-psychotic psychiatric symp-
toms in the year after giving birth was no greater than that of
non-puerperal women. Troutman and Cutrona (1990) compared
128 primiparious adolescents with 114 matched non-
childbearing adolescents and found that there was no significant
difference in the rate of depression in the two groups. This was
further supported by Cox, Murray, and Chapman (1993), who
compared 232 six-month postnatal women with a matched
control group, who had not given birth within the previous year
and found no significant difference in the prevalence of depres-
sion. Rather than being the result of childbearing, it appears to be
an episode of clinical depression in women predisposed to this
form of mental illness and who are likely to go on to experience
further episodes separate from their puerperal status (R. Kumar
& Robson, 1984). Factors such as personality, negative feelings
toward the infant, and ambivalence over parenthood appear to be
relevant factors to the onset of symptoms in these predisposed
women. For example, in 1991, O’Hara, Schlechte, Lewis, and
Varner compared 361 childbearing and non-childbearing
women and found the predictors for depression in the
childbearing women were previous episodes of depression and
a vulnerability/stress interaction, while for non-childbearing
women, the only predictor was the vulnerability/stress interac-
tion. R. Kumar and Robson (1984) found that depressive
symptoms during the first 3 months postnatally were associated
with marital conflict and maternal ambivalence regarding the
infant. Verkerk, Denollet, Van Heck, Van Son, and Pop
(2005) in their study of 277 women both at 32 weeks gestation
and 3,6, and 12 months postpartum found that the combination
of high neuroticism and high introversion was the predictor of
clinical depression in the 1st year postpartum, even when they
controlled for clinical levels of depression during the pregnancy.
A history of depression was the only other predictor.
Psychosis occurs in postpartum women at a rate of less than
1 case per 1,000 births (Terp & Mortensen, 1998) and generally
requires an inpatient hospitalization to stabilize the symptoms
of hallucinations and delusions. Its onset appears to be within
2 weeks to 2 months of childbirth and to be related to an under-
lying predisposition to mania and bipolar disorder rather than
being caused by childbirth or hormone changes (Hay, 2009).
For example, Kendell, Chalmers, and Platz (1987) examined
records in more than 54,000 births over a 12-year period, look-
ing for psychiatric admissions within 90 days postpartum. They
found 120 cases, most within the initial 30 days and with those
who had a history of bipolar disorder being at highest risk.
Similarly, Sit, Rothschild, and Wisner (2006), in their review
of research from 1966 to 2005, found that the start of puerperal
psychosis began within the first 4 weeks postpartum and was
associated with bipolar disorder. C. Dean and Kendell (1981)
compared the hospitalization lengths for postpartum and non-
postpartum women with mania and found no difference in type
of treatment or hospitalization length. Whalley, Roberts, Went-
zel, and Wright (1982) compared the morbidity risks for post-
partum and non-postpartum psychoses in relatives of women
with histories of psychosis (either postpartum or not). They
Porter and Gavin
found that the risk for psychosis was the same in both groups of
relatives. Furthermore, they also assessed the frequencies of
human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A, -B, and -C locus antigens,
nine blood group antigens, and 10 red blood cell isoenzymes in
those relatives.3 In this study, those genetic markers did not dis-
tinguish puerperal from non-puerperal affective psychoses.
Long-term follow-up studies indicate that most women who
have an episode of psychosis in the 2 to 3 months after giving
birth will go on to have more episodes, regardless of
future childbearing (Lewis & Bunce, 2003; Valdimarsdottir,
Hultman, Harlow, Cnattingius, & Sparen, 2009). For example,
Reich and Winokur (1970), in their study of 20 parous women
with bipolar disorder and 29 of their female relatives who also
had both children and an episodic affective disorder, found that
50% of the patients and 25% of their relatives went on to have
future episodes. Robling, Paykel, Dunn, Abbott, and Katona
(2000) followed 64 women who had been psychiatrically
hospitalized within 6 months of giving birth. The women were
followed for a mean of 23 years and 75% of them had at least
one additional psychiatric episode, generally unrelated to child-
birth; 37% of the women had more than three future episodes;
and 29% had episodes during subsequent postpartum events.
Van Gent and Verhoeven (1992) studied the use of lithium pro-
phylaxis in pregnant women with histories of bipolar disorder
and found that the majority of those who did not use medication
had a relapse in symptoms and a majority of those who did use
the medication did not have a relapse. Videbech and Gouliaev
(1995) in their long-term follow-up study of 50 women with
postpartum episode psychosis found that the relapse rate was
60%, 40% of the women remained at least partially disabled and
unable to work at full capacity due to mental illness, and cases of
exclusive puerperal relapse were rare (4%). As with depression,
psychosis during a postpartum period is not a unique form of the
illness (Tschinkel, Harris, Lenoury, & Healy, 2007; Whalley
et al., 1982). Wisner et al (in Spinelli, 2003) recommended that
acute onset psychosis in postpartum should be viewed as bipolar
episode until proven otherwise. The above studies strongly point
to a genetic tendency in women who experience acute onset psy-
chosis in postpartum periods.
Psychosis-related infanticide is extremely rare as the
underlying illness itself is rare (Hatters-Friedman et al.,
2005). Furthermore, infanticides related to psychosis tend to
involve desired children rather than unwanted ones and imme-
diate confessions rather than attempts to hide culpability
(Lewis & Bunce, 2003). Psychotic infanticidal women are
less likely to have prior involvement in CPS than non-
psychotic infanticidal women.
Malingering of mental illness can arise in infanticide cases,
as with other types of homicide. A review of Brazilian neona-
ticide cases over 95 years found an increase in the number of
claimed amnesia cases after the enactment of a 1940 infanticide
statute that emphasized the role of mental illness as a
mitigating factor (Mendlowicz, Rapaport, Mecler, Golshan,
& Moraes, 2002). This strongly suggests that many of these
women were malingering an untestable symptom to avoid
being held accountable for their actions.
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103
In summary, while some women experience minor emo-
tional disruptions following childbirth, psychosis and clinical
levels of depression related to giving birth are rare. In both
cases, however, the research to date indicates that these symp-
toms of mental illness are not unique forms caused by hormo-
nal changes but rather are manifestations of preexisting mental
illnesses. The majority of infanticides and neonaticides are not
related to the woman’s mental illness.
Language About the Victims
The perpetrators of infanticide often use language in a manner
that deflects their responsibility and distances them from the
event. Stanton and Simpson (2006) noted that, during inter-
views with women who had murdered their children, the
women made statements such as ‘‘when my baby died,’’ rather
than ‘‘when I killed my baby.’’ A similar manner of using lan-
guage to diffuse the woman’s responsibility is seen in many
articles on infanticide. While studies may use the term
‘‘mother’’ to discuss the murderer of the infant, the infant is
often termed ‘‘victim.’’ In English, language is generally used
in a dichotomous way, with either opposites or matched pairs,
black/white, salt/pepper. It is usual to hear or read pairings of
‘‘mother/child’’ or ‘‘mother/infant,’’ ‘‘victim/perpetrator’’ or
‘‘victim/murderer.’’ The pair ‘‘mother’’ with ‘‘victim’’ suggests
a reluctance to view women as murderers.
Several commentators have suggested that infanticide is
caused by the woman’s feeling ‘‘trapped’’ or ‘‘stressed’’ due
to child care. However, parenting is not generally seen as such
a stressful burden that homicide is a foreseeable outgrowth.
Rather, in neonaticide and infanticide, the women have nega-
tive attitudes toward their infants and ‘‘do not wish to spend
their physical, emotional and social energy raising them’’
(Palermo, 2002, p. 141). One of the most obvious factors
involved in infanticide is the unwillingness of the perpetrator
to view the victim as an autonomous person, with her own
rights and identity. This can be seen in suicide notes in cases
of infanticide followed by suicide by the perpetrator, where the
perpetrator requests that they be buried in the same coffin or
makes statements that she and the victim will be ‘‘together for-
ever.’’ Crimmins, Langley, Brownstein, and Spunt (1997) sug-
gest that, to infanticidal women, the infant is symbolic of some
other object, rather than an autonomous living person.
Infanticidal and Neonaticidal Means
Due to their small size and inability to defend themselves, the
murder of an infant does not require either strength or skill.
Therefore, smothering, strangling, suffocating, and drowning
are all common methods of infanticide, although many other
means are used including starving burning, stabbing or cutting
shooting, exposure, gross assault, gassing, scalding, poisoning,
and defenestration (see Table 4). Finkelhor and Ormrod (2001)
suggest that women are more likely to use their hands as a
weapon and less likely to use firearms, compared to men, but
Lewis, Baranoski, Buchanan and Benedek (1998; in Palermo,
103
104
Table 4. Method of Killing in Infanticide
Author
Adshead, Brooke, Samuels, Jenner, & Southall, 2000
Bropokman et al., 2006
Cummings, Mueller, Theis, & Rivara, 1994
Dalley, 1997
Herman-Giddens, Smith, Mittal, Carlson, & Butts, 2003
Krischer, Stone, Sevecke, & Steinmeyer, 2007
Mulryan, Gibbons, & O’Connors, 2002
Rouge-Maillart, Jousset, Gaudin, Bouju, & Penneau, 2005
Saunders, 1989
Stanton et al., 2002
Schmidt, Grab, & Madea, 1996
Table 5. Gender of Infanticide Victims
Author
Beyer et al., 2008
Bropokman et al., 2006
Crimmins et al., 1997
Overpeck, Brenner, Trumble, Trifiletti,
& Berendes, 1998
Vanamo, Kauppi, Karkola, Merikanto,
& Räsänen, 2001
2002) indicated that up to 25% of women who murdered their
children use weapons.
Gender of Murdered Infants/Neonates
While infanticide of females appears to be higher than
infanticide of males in India and China (Sahni et al., 2008),
many studies report a higher rate of infanticide of male
than female infants in industrialized western nations (see
Table 5). Lester (1991) proposes that this discrepancy is
related to the higher murder rate of males in general. The
problem with this argument is that the majority of murders
of adult men are perpetrated by other men (Fox & Zawitz,
2007; U.S. Dept of Justice, 2006). It does not necessarily
follow that, while most adult male murders are perpetrated
by other males, infant male murders would be perpetrated
by females. Women commit the majority of all infant
murders, so why are they killing more male infants?
Marleau, Dube, and LeVeille (2004) suggest that more
males than females are born and therefore a higher infanticide
rate is simply an artefact of the higher availability of male
infants. While the ratio of male to female live births is slowly
moving toward 1:1 in industrialized nations, currently approx-
imately 1–2% more boys are born than girls. Marleau et al.
reported that, in their sample of 420 infanticide cases, 58.3%
of the murdered infants were male. Beyer et al. (2008),
Bropokman and Nolan (2006), Crimmins et al. (1997), and
Hodgins and Dube (1995) all report a similar 5–6% higher rate
of infanticide of males. Even accounting for the differences in
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TRAUMA, VIOLENCE, & ABUSE 11(3)
Most Common Means of
Infanticide/Neonaticide
Smothering
Suffocation
Suffocation/hanging
Blunt force/strangulation
Suffocation/drowning
Suffocation/immolation
Drowning
Blunt force/head trauma
Exposure/drowning
Stabbing/defenestration
Blunt injury
live births, about 6% more male infants were murdered than
female infants in industrialized nations. One possible explana-
Victims tion is that a male infant is more ‘‘other’’ to a woman than a
56% male female infant. Is the male infant somehow symbolic of the
57% male woman’s male sex partner? At this point, the issue is unclear
55% male and will require more research.
1.1 more
males
60% male Denial/Concealment
‘‘Infant’s body discovered in trash’’ (LA times, February 9,
1996).
‘‘Infant’s body discovered near the 2-9 Dumpsters’’ (Daily
Trojan, 10/11/05).
‘‘The case of the frozen babies’’ (Schpoliansky & Childs,
2009).
‘‘Three babies found in deep freeze in Germany’s infanti-
cide epidemic’’ (Boyes, 2008). ‘‘Infant’s body discovered at
plant’’ (NY Times, May 4, 2006).
‘‘Infant’s body found inside plastic bag’’ (CBC News, April
2, 2009).
‘‘Infant’s body found in Onslow County garbage truck’’
(Capitol Broadcasting Company, October 27, 2008).
‘‘Infant’s body found in Erfurt freezer’’ (The Local, May 27,
2009).
‘‘Dead newborn found at abandoned apartment in northern
Japan’’ (Bay Ledger News, May 31, 2007).
As these news headlines show, the discovery of a newborn’s
corpse is an unfortunately frequent occurrence. In a study of
neonaticides published in 1990, 64% of the newborn’s corpses
were discovered by accident in garbage cans or other refuse
sites. None of the newborns could be matched to a missing per-
son report, which indicated that the woman had intentionally
concealed her pregnancy and abandoned the infant upon birth
(Crittenden & Craig, 1990).
One of the hallmark factors in neonaticide compared to
infanticide is the secrecy of the pregnancy and subsequent
birth. As noted above, women who commit neonaticide are
markedly different from women who commit infanticide. Neo-
naticidal women tend to be younger, emotionally immature,
and do not desire to become a parent at the time of the homi-
cide. Many of these women manage to conceal their
Porter and Gavin
pregnancies from their parents and others for the entire 9
months, although, according to Beyer et al. (2008), at least one
other person was aware of the pregnancy in 83% of the cases.
The issue of whether the woman was aware of her
pregnancy would be a relevant factor in a neonaticide trial.
Given the multiple signs and symptoms of pregnancy,
especially by the end of the 9th month, including very specific
location of weight gain, amenorrhea, and fetal movement, it
seems unlikely that most women could remain passively obliv-
ious to pregnancy, without other factors contributing to the lack
of awareness (Vallone & Hoffman, 2003). According to Beyer
et al. (2008), in their sample of 40 neonaticidal women, over
half had a history of previous pregnancies, giving them a clear
frame of reference for their physical signs and precluding any
logical claims that they were unaware of their pregnancies.
Beyer et al. (2008) further notes that in the majority of cases
the women went through labor and then murdered the infant
within close proximity to others, without disturbing anyone, let
alone calling for help. This behavior suggests intentional con-
cealment. If a woman found herself experiencing labor and giv-
ing birth, somehow without ever having known she was
pregnant, an expected reaction would be to call for help. Even
if she mistakenly believed the baby was stillborn, calling for
help would still be the expected behavior, not placing the infant
in the trash as is done in these cases.
Is it ever possible to be totally unaware of a pregnancy until
the point of labor? The research by Wessel, Endrika, and
Buscher (2002), based on a Berlin population study, found that
1 in 2,455 cases reach labor without the woman being aware
that she was pregnant. While it does occur, it is clearly rare.
Furthermore, the women in this study were not accused of
neonaticides and so their claims of obliviousness lack
secondary gain.
Several studies use the term ‘‘denial’’ rather than conceal-
ment to discuss the unwanted pregnancy that results in neona-
ticides. They suggest that the woman denies her pregnant state
to herself. Dulit (2000) posits that there are three types of
‘‘denial’’ seen in neonaticides cases. The first seems to be less
a form of denial and more a simple desire: I hope I’m not preg-
nant. The second involves deliberate deception of others and
seems best described by concealment. The third, ‘‘true’’ denial,
is a function of actively pushing the facts away: ‘‘I can’t think
about this now.’’ To deny something first requires an acknowl-
edgment that the reality exists and then requires active inatten-
tion (Kohm & Liverman, 2002). Therefore, these are not cases
of chronic mentally ill women who deny their pregnancies due
to mental disturbance. Rather, these women are cognitively
aware of their pregnancies but their behaviors and emotions
do not match that awareness (Lee, Li, Kwong, & So, 2006).
The woman makes a decision not to alter her behaviors (get
a gynecological exam, pregnancy test, abortion, prenatal care),
not to form any maternal prenatal attachments, and, ultimately,
to murder the newborn infant.
Beier et al. (2006), after reviewing both forensic and
obstetric cases of denial and concealment of pregnancy, found
that these groups were identical and devised the term
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105
‘‘pregnancy negation.’’ They suggest that pregnancy negation
might be viewed as a type of conversion or adjustment disor-
der; however, pregnancy negation lacks the egodystonic factor
necessary to be a type of conversion disorder and does not fit
the time frame necessary for an adjustment disorder.
Recidivism
In 1996, American Waneta Hoyte was convicted of the deaths
of five of her infant children after she confessed that their
deaths were not due to SIDS as previously thought (Busch,
1997). In 1999, American Marie Noe was convicted of the
deaths of her eight infants, who had all previously been thought
to have died due to SIDS (Begley & Underwood, 1998). In
May, 2003, Australian Kathleen Folbigg was found guilty of
the death of her four infants. Their deaths had been believed
to be due to SIDS but Folbigg detailed the murders in a diary
that was later discovered (Glendinning, 2003). In 2005,
German courts convicted Sabine Hilschenz of the death of
eight infants, whose bodies she hid in flower containers at her
home; she is suspected of the death of a ninth infant but the sta-
tute of limitations had expired for that case. In 2007, in the
northern German town of Kiel, the corpse of an infant was
found in the garbage; the DNA matched that of another infant
corpse found in the trash in the area in 2006 (Fox News, 2007).
In June, 2009, Frenchwoman Veronique Courjault was found
guilty of the death of the two infants whose bodies were found
in her freezer. She also confessed to a third infanticide of which
the police had no knowledge (Schipoliansky & Childs, 2009).
These women are all examples of repeated neonaticide.
What is the likelihood that a woman who murders her
infant will go on to commit another act of violence toward
an infant in the future? At this point, there are very limited
data available on that topic. A group of 47 Argentine infanti-
cidal women were followed for 237 days following discharge
from prison and 11% engaged in maladaptive behavior during
the follow-up period. However, as the follow-up period was
less than 1 year and recidivism rates are usually reported in
5-year, 10-year, and 15-year periods, it remains unclear
whether infanticidal women go on to commit more acts of
violence.
Stanton and Simpson (2006), in their interviews of mentally
incompetent infanticidal women, noted that these women did
not express concerns about living with their illness upon release
and did not reference valuing professional psychological help
during their hospital stays. This suggests that these women
underestimated their risk for relapse and therefore risk to others
in the future.
For infanticides and neonaticides unrelated to maternal psy-
chosis, the above cases indicate that the risk for recidivism
clearly exists and should not be underestimated or based on the
woman’s lack of prior criminal arrests. The majority of women
who kill their children had no prior arrest history (McKee,
2006), but as the cases of Hoyte, Noe, Folbigg, and Courjault
show, a lack of previous arrests does not mean a lack of crim-
inal or violent behavior.
105
106 TRAUMA, VIOLENCE, & ABUSE 11(3)

Typologies Table 6. Categorizations of Infanticidal/Neonaticidal Perpetrators

Resnick (1970) was the first to suggest that typologies could be Author Typology
developed to describe and categorize infanticidal events and
Scott, 1973 Child was unwanted
introduced the concept of neonaticide as a separate category. Mercy killing to relieve real suffering
Although the expression ‘‘typology’’ may not be completely Aggression due to gross mental
relevant here, as such terminology and classification had not pathology
been established at this point, Resnick has still described clas- Murder as a result of stimulus arising
sifications that could illustrate distinctions in the motivations outside of victim
for killing. These include Murder as a result of stimulus arising
from victim
D’Orban, 1979 Battering women
 killings for ‘‘altruistic’’ reasons; Mentally ill women (neonaticide)
 killing by an acutely psychotic woman; Retaliating women
 killing of an unwanted infant; Women who killed unwanted children
 accidental killing via severe child abuse; Mercy killing
 killing for revenge against another; and Guileyardo, Prahlow, & Altruistic
 neonaticides. Bernard, 1999 Euthanasia
Acute psychosis
Postpartum mental disorder
For Resnick, altruistic reasons for killing a child could include Unwanted child
ending the child’s real or imagined suffering. For example, a Unwanted pregnancy (infanticide)
mother who plans to kill herself may feel that her child would Angry impulse
suffer if left behind in the world and so kills the child too. Spousal revenge
From Resnick’s initial list, multiple other categorization Sexual abuse
forms have been designed, of varying length, comprehensive- Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy
ness, and utility (see Table 6). Violent child
Negligence/neglect
Both Resnick’s and D’Oban’s typologies have been validated Sadistic punishment
internationally and remain the best known, although McKee’s Drug/etoh abuse
typology appears to be highly useful for forensic purposes. Seizure
There are problems with the current typologies, stemming Innocent bystander
from the subjectivity of the terms. As Mugavin (2005) points Bourget & Gagne, 2005 Pathological filicide
out, most typologies include a discussion of ‘‘violent’’ and Accidental filicide
‘‘non-violent’’ methods to murder the infant. For example, he Retaliating filicide (neonaticide)
Paternal filicide
cites Resnick who compared infanticidal methods used by men McKee, 2006 Detached mothers
to those used by women. The methods men used are described Abusive/neglectful mothers
as ‘‘more active’’ while the methods women used are described Psychotic/depressed mothers
as ‘‘passive.’’ Is it possible to classify murder as non-violent or Retaliatory mothers
passive? It is unlikely that the experience of being slowly Psychopathic mothers
drowned or smothered seems non-violent to the victim.
‘‘Altruism’’ as a descriptor of motivation for infanticide is
to divide between infanticides and neonaticides and between
also problematic. As Harder (1967; in Stanton, 2002) suggests,
killings by psychotic and by not-psychotic women.
the idea that the murder of an infant was somehow altruistic
probably comes from the continual myth that women are
always loving mothers, even during murder. This view
represents a social perspective rather than scientific objectivity Legal Issues
and could, according to Lewis and Bunce (2003), have ramifi- In 2008, the Canadian courts tried a 27-year-old woman for the
cations in court proceedings. Scott’s terminology, ‘‘result of murder of her infant sons in 1998 and in 2002. Because the
stimulus arising from victim’’ is also problematic, as it seems original crime occurred when she was a minor, she remained
to imply that the infant was somehow culpable of his or her unnamed. Both deaths had previously been ruled as due to
own murder. SIDS, but she later admitted to suffocating both infants inten-
Furthermore, as with any typology system, there is the prob- tionally. A psychiatrist testified that the woman ‘‘clearly over-
lem of overlap; cases that are complex and do not fit neatly into stated’’ psychotic symptoms and said ‘‘false reporting of
any single category. For example, the American press recently serious symptoms raised pretty significant red flags.’’ Some
published a story of a chronic schizophrenic woman who mur- of the alleged symptoms, such as olfactory hallucinations and
dered her infant, following a fight with the baby’s father. Should reading words backward, are not symptoms commonly attribu-
this be classified as due to mental illness or for revenge? For for- table to psychosis but are the type of symptoms a layperson
ensic purposes, a more functional classification system might be might imagine was a sign of severe mental illness. It was also

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Porter and Gavin
revealed during the trial that she had read a book about postpar-
tum depression, which could have been the source of the falsely
reported symptoms (Tracey, 2008). Despite this information,
she was found guilty on two counts of infanticide. This is mark-
edly different from being found guilty of first-degree murder,
as infanticide laws are predicated on the concept that childbirth
causes a woman’s mind to be ‘‘disturbed’’ and thereby
diminishes her capacity to control her behavior.
While a minor subset of women who kill infants are
psychotic at the time, the majority appear to have willfully
murdered their unwanted offspring. However, courts seem
reluctant to hold women accountable for their actions in these
cases. Courts consistently give lighter sentences to women
convicted of infanticide than men convicted of the same crime
(D’Orban, 1979, in Drescher-Burke, Krall, & Penick, 2004;
Wilczynski, 1997). It does not appear that anyone asks about
the mental state of a man who murders an infant nor is there
a question as to his disposition; infanticidal males are
remanded to prison. Infanticidal women, however, are given
a more complex and gender-focused disposition.
The United Kingdom currently uses the Infanticide Act of
1938, which reduced the death of a child up to the age of 1 year
by his or her mother to manslaughter. Canada, Ireland, Austra-
lia, New Zealand, Brazil, Denmark, and Sweden use similar
laws. These laws implicate childbirth and lactation as a ground
for mental disturbance despite the lack of any scientific basis
for this belief. The accused woman does not have to prove she
was actually incapacitated by psychosis at the time of the infan-
ticide, as her mental state is presumed to be disrupted by virtue
of having given birth. Furthermore, the time covered is set arbi-
trarily at 1 year, despite the World Health Organization (WHO)
defining the postpartum period as only 6 weeks long. Because
the laws are erroneously based on antiquated suppositions
about biology, they cannot extend to men, making the laws
inherently biased. These laws largely disallow the idea that a
woman may kill her infant for reasons other than mental illness.
The result is that the majority of women in these nations who
murder their infants are remanded to counseling and probation
rather than jail (Stangle, 2008).
Are special laws necessary for infanticide cases? As Dobson
and Sales (2000) state,
The basic issue is whether or not the year following childbirth
represents a special time, when psychological and biological
forces interact to cause mental illness so severe that there
should be an assumption that a woman should not be held fully
responsible for an act of murder committed against her newly
born child . . . . (p. 1099)
As discussed above, the evidence is clear that, for the majority
of women, the postnatal year is not biologically or psychologi-
cally dangerous; it is no different for postnatal women than
for women who adopt infants. A very small subset of women
who have underlying predisposition to psychosis or mania may
have an episode of symptoms within this time frame, but the
evidence strongly suggests that these women would have
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107
manifested their symptoms regardless of their postnatal state
(Dobson & Sales, 2000; Sit, Rothschild, & Wisner, 2006).
Childbirth and lactation, and the hormones involved in these
events, do not cause women to become mentally ill. Therefore,
in most cases, the preexisting statutes for dealing with mentally
ill defendants should suffice rather than requiring a gender-
specific law. For example, in the United States, the accused
may use an insanity defense. This defense is estimated to be
used successfully in less than 1 of 1,000 cases. However, in
maternal filicide cases that use the insanity defense, the women
are acquitted in up to 65% of the cases (Stangle, 2008). This
strongly suggests that a separate infanticide law is unnecessary.
Are those women acquitted on an insanity plea actually
insane? Alternatively, is the high acquittal rate more indicative
of society’s inability to conceptualize ‘‘mothers’’ as ‘‘killers’’?
D’Orban (in Lambie, 2001) reported that, despite being cate-
gorized as ‘‘mentally ill,’’ only 26% of the infanticidal women
in her study met the criteria for psychosis. Wilczynski and
Morris (1993; in Rapaport, 2006) report that about half of the
women who are convicted of infanticide are not suffering from
any identifiable mental disorder. This strongly suggests that
there is something else going on in the legal proceedings other
than an assessment of the women’s culpability.
Not all cases of infanticide even make it fully to a court
hearing, again suggesting a gender issue. Putkonen et al.
(2007) found that only 27% of all neonaticides in Finland
between 1980 and 2000 were ever prosecuted and convicted.
Wilczynski (1997), comparing British court dispositions of
infanticide by men and women, found that less than 50% of the
cases involving women were prosecuted compared to 90% of
the men’s cases. Women were more likely to be granted bail
than men (50% vs. 0%), and, while the majority of men
received incarceration dispositions (84.2%), the majority of
women received treatment dispositions (87.2%). In the late
20th century, a British hospital covertly videotaped women
attempting to smother their infants with either their hands or
with pillows. Despite the video evidence, every woman denied
attempting to smother the infant and only one received a custo-
dial sentence (Adshead, Brooke, Samuels, Jenner, & Southall,
2000). Even when women were incarcerated, their sentence
lengths averaged less than half the sentence lengths of men
convicted of similar offenses. She cites similar results in Aus-
tralia, Canada, American, Denmark, and Sweden.
This aversion to holding women accountable for their
actions, often termed chivalric justice, has significant negative
implications for society. It suggests that our society values the
lives of children far less than we value the lives of adults. In
addition, it reinforces the stereotype that women are irrational
beings under the control of their biology, unlike men.
Recently, there has been mention in the U.S. courts of
a ‘‘neonaticide syndrome.’’ In the U.S. court system, it is
necessary to pass a Frye test to establish the admissibility of
supposedly scientific evidence. To claim the existence of a
‘‘syndrome’’ mitigating an individual’s responsibility in a
homicide case, there would need to be evidence that the exis-
tence of this ‘‘syndrome’’ is generally accepted by a
107
108
meaningful percentage of the scientific community. In this
case, the supposed ‘‘neonaticide syndrome’’ is not likely to
pass a Frye test for several reasons (Bourget et al., 2007).
According to the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Associa-
tion, 2000), a syndrome is a ‘‘grouping of signs and symptoms
based on their frequent co-occurrence that may suggest a
common underlying pathogenesis, course, familial pattern or
treatment selection.’’ There is no research to demonstrate that
neonaticidal women all experience the same symptoms or any
symptoms at all. International research indicates that neonati-
cide is carried out by immature women who view their
newborns as a threat to their lifestyles (Hatters-Friedman &
Resnick, 2009; Resnick & Hatters-Friedman, 2003). These
women often claim to feel passive or powerless, yet their
actions of concealing the pregnancy, labor, and corpse strongly
suggest they are able to function in their own best interest. In
addition, a single behavior, especially murder, does not, by
itself, define a mental illness. It has been suggested that a sub-
set of these women ‘‘dissociate’’ during the murder of the
infant, thereby claiming a lack of responsibility (Spinelli,
2001). However, as dissociation cannot be objectively mea-
sured in a manner that precludes malingering, such claims are
best met with skepticism (Resnick & Hatters-Friedman, 2003).
Conclusion
At this point, research has given a fairly accurate understanding
of who commits infanticide, why and by what means:
 Neonaticide is generally committed by women who often
conceal the pregnancy, give birth away from a hospital and
then suffocate, strangle or drown the unwanted newborn
before hiding the corpse. Neonaticidal women generally
do not have an incapacitating mental illness.
 Infanticides are generally committed by more mature
women who use a variety of violent methods, may preme-
ditate the crime, and engage in infanticide for reasons rang-
ing from retaliation against another adult to child abuse or
neglect to removal of an unwanted child.
 A subset of infanticides are committed by women during a
psychotic episode. These women are likely to have signif-
icant psychiatric problems for the remainder of their life,
regardless of their childbearing, as psychosis is not the
result of maternal hormone fluctuations.
While this produces a greater understanding of the causes of
neonaticide and infanticide, there is still a lack a strong concep-
tualization as to how to prevent these crimes from occurring.
For those infanticide cases related to the woman’s psychosis,
it may be useful to educate gynecologists, obstetricians, and
birthing unit staff regarding this issue and for them to educate
partners and parents of women giving birth. Open conversa-
tions with women regarding their and their family’s history
of mental illness would assist in identifying some women with
predispositions to psychosis. Public service messages by the
media on this topic would also be useful to educate the public
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TRAUMA, VIOLENCE, & ABUSE 11(3)
of warning signs and symptoms. For neonaticide, because the
perpetrators largely avoid any obstetric contact, another avenue
of education would be needed. Social networking sites are
becoming a common communication venue for women
younger than 30 years and could be useful in increasing aware-
ness about concealed pregnancies and neonaticide risks among
young people. School personnel could be educated regarding
the signs of concealed pregnancy. It is also important that
the courts and policy makers focus on the problems of chivalric
justice as well as the possibility of serial or repeat neonaticide/
infanticide.
Notes
1. Safe Haven laws in most U.S. states allow the mother of a newborn
to leave the infant at a designated site (e.g., hospital) anonymously
without risk of prosecution. These laws were designed to discou-
rage infanticide but lack evidence of efficacy.
2. Andrea Yates is an American woman who drowned five young
children and is currently committed to a psychiatric facility in
Texas. The case was notorious due to Yates’ history of multiple
psychotic episodes following childbirth and continuing procreation
despite repeated warnings from mental health professionals.
3. HLA-A, -B, and -C locus antigens are part of the major histocom-
patibility gene complex on chromosome 6 and are relevant to
human immunity; antigens are molecular antibody generators; iso-
enzymes are catalysts.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the
authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research and/or
authorship of this article.
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Bios
Theresa Porter, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist, at the Connecticut
Valley Hospital, Middletown, CT. Research interests include
aggression in women and the identification and treatment of sex
offenders.
Helen Gavin, PhD, is a reader in forensic psychology, University of
Huddersfield, UK. Research interests include sexual violence and
criminal cognitions. She was previously head of psychology at this
University.