Patterns of women who abandoned their babies

While there is not a lot of literature on or clinical experience with abandoned babies who survive, there is information on cases of infants who are abandoned and die, says forensic psychiatrist Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe.

Neonaticide, the killing of one’s child in the first 24 hours, is overwhelmingly committed by women rather than men, said Lohrasbe.

“As you can imagine, across the planet, they are typically very young and typically under a great deal of stress,” he said. “A high proportion are depressed and a high proportion are also suicidal. It overlaps with people who are going through a mental crisis in their lives generally.”

The young women are often disadvantaged and socially isolated, said Lohrasbe. They may have been abandoned, rejected or treated unfairly by their parents. Often, they have grown up in rough backgrounds or been abused themselves.

“If an 18-year-old has close connections to loving parents who support her, she is not depressed at the time, she’s not under stress and the boyfriend is with her, then it’s highly unlikely that something like this would happen,” he said.

It’s well recognized that people disconnect and dissociate with anything traumatic. And there are cases where people give birth to fully developed infants and have no idea they were pregnant, said the psychiatrist.

“It seems inconceivable to most of us, but apparently it’s a well-recorded phenomenon. We’ve all read about it.”

Over the years, Lohrasbe has been involved in a number of cases where women have killed their babies within the first 24 hours of birth. “It’s a rare person who would kill their child, who is in their normal state of mind, and I’m using that phrase very broadly,” he said. “When we are under enormous stress, even if we don’t have an overt mental disorder, we tend to have odd lapses in judgment.

“And of course, pregnancy brings all kinds of issues, psychologically, physiologically, socially. So even at the best of times, a woman’s pregnancy can be a very stressful time. But if her hormones are wacky and she’s vomiting and she is stressed and has no support, it casts the whole experience in a different light.”