A decade of neonaticides in the greater Lisbon area

• Autor(a) principal: Câmara, Catarina Klut
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Graça, Olindina, Costa, Tiago, Costa Santos, Jorge
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/36962
• topic: Neonaticide; Filicide; Infanticide; Forensic Psychology; Forensic Psychiatry

Neonaticide is the homicide of a child by a parent during the first 24 hours of life. The goal of this paper is to characterize cases of neonaticide that have occurred in the Great Lisbon area. The clinical files of all neonaticide cases that were studied at the Delegação do Sul, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses (INMLCF, IP), between January, 1st 2001 and December 31st 2010 were reviewed and analyzed. Five cases of neonaticide were identified (2.96 per 100000 live births), perpetrated by five mothers with an average age of 25 years, whose main motivation was unwanted pregnancy. The pregnancies were concealed, no pre-natal care was obtained and delivery was unassisted and occurred at home. There were no cases of mental disorders that could justify, under a medico-legal point of view, a decision of not guilty by reason of insanity. Although rare, neonaticide cases affect societies and raise forensic questions. Due to its lower association with major psychopathology, low careseeking behavior, opportunities for prevention are reduced. Therefore, the early detection of pregnancy in women of fertile age may provide a valuable chance to offer the required support.