Five cases of neonaticide in Quebec

A neonaticide is the homicide of an infant that occurs during the first 24 hours after birth. This homicide is almost exclusively done by the mother. According to previous data, the parent who commits such homicide is a single woman, who usually conceals her pregnancy and delivers secretly either at home or in the workplace and panics at this very moment. Five vignettes are selected from the files of the Quebec Coroner. The cases are presented in order to verify if these women represent a homogeneous group, as research of the last thirty years has demonstrated. According to data for the period between 1986 and 1994, the deceased newborns are boys, and the teenage mothers have personalities that are characterized by immaturity. In this group, denial of pregnancy is a temporary state that may vary in depth among individuals. Moreover, they did not want to be pregnant. One older group of women experience separation anxiety at the time of commiting the neonaticide. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed in link with these two sub-groups.