Female offender patients in Germany

Abstract

The parental killing of children in the first year after birth, the infanticide, constitutes a complex phenomenon, that seldom occurs. Infanticide has been reported across numerous cultures and throughout history. Children in the first year of life have the highest Risk of becoming a victim of filicide. Studies on infanticide show that mothers who kill their children are frequently psychiatrically disturbed. Depressive as well as psychotic symptoms are with high frequency related to the newborn or to the maternity itself. Although depression is the most common postpartum disorder and may represent a vital danger for the mother and the child. The association between the psychiatric disorder and the infanticide will be usually explained through the maternal psychopathological symptoms. The bonding to the child hasn't often been seen as a central motivational cause for an infanticide. The present case report underlines the importance of a postpartum bonding disorder and its relation to a higher infanticide risk for the child.