Anonymous birth law saves babies--optimization, sustainability and public awareness

Anonymous birth: Biographical knowledge and dyadic coping in adoptive mothers and fathers

Research on adoptive parents of anonymously born children is still scarce. Open issues are (1) examining how much biographical information is available to adoptive parents, (2) considering differences between adoptive mothers and fathers, and (3) understanding what affects their dyadic coping. Hence, this study set out to compare adoptive mothers’ and fathers’ mental health, attachment styles, dyadic coping, and biographical knowledge, and to identify predictors of dyadic coping. 62 mothers and 40 fathers (mean age: 46 years) raising an anonymously born adoptee answered online or paper-pencil versions of the Brief Symptom Inventory, Vulnerable Attachment Style Questionnaire, Dyadic Coping Inventory, Child Behavior Checklist, and a checklist of biographical data. Descriptive analyses showed that biographical knowledge was generally low in adoptive parents. More information was available on the birth mother than the birth father, with letters being the most common memorial. Furthermore, student t-tests revealed few differences: adoptive mothers reported to be more anxious and rated their ability to communicate stress and common dyadic coping as higher than did adoptive fathers. Finally, a hierarchical linear regression identified knowledge of more biographical data, parents’ older age as well as child’s younger age and higher psychopathology scores as predictors of better adoptive parents’ dyadic coping. These findings highlight the difficult task of gathering biographical information whilst maintaining the birth mother’s anonymity. They also stress the need of further research which may inform policies tailored to the specific needs of adoptive parents in the context of anonymous birth.

Neonaticide rate unchanged in Japan despite a decrease in the birth rate

BACKGROUND

Neonaticide is the murder of a newborn baby within 24 hours of birth. It has been reported in various countries, but there has been little recent research on the current state of neonaticide in Japan.

AIM

To elucidate the epidemiological features of neonaticide in Japan using public long-term, population-based data collected over 14 years and 9 months from July 2003 to March 2018.

METHODS

A descriptive analysis of public data from 2003 to the present was conducted related to deaths which had been retrospectively investigated and deemed by the authorities to be caused by child abuse or neglect.

RESULTS

Between July 2003 and March 2018, there were 149 cases of 'known' neonaticide in Japan and the incidence was 0.96/100,000 live births. The majority of perpetrators were mothers, accounting for 135 (91%) of cases, and in 70 (48%) cases they were young mothers under the age of 25. None of the infants was delivered in a medical facility. Nine (6%) murders were committed by both parents together and only one (1%) by the father alone.

CONCLUSION

The number of births in Japan has been declining gradually but the rate of neonaticide is the same.

Trends of infanticides in northern Tunisia: A 40 years study (1977-2016)

BACKGROUND

The Tunisian Penal Code defines infanticide as the murder committed by the mother on her child at birth or immediately after. There is a dearth of studies and official statistics on infanticide in the Arab region and North Africa.

OBJECTIVE

to analyze the infanticide trends in northern Tunisia between 1977 and 2016.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

we included all cases of infanticides autopsied at the Legal Medicine Department of Charles Nicolle Hospital in Tunis, over a period of 40 years (1977-2016).

METHODS

A descriptive retrospective study.

RESULTS

We collected a total of 513 cases of infanticide over the study period. The general prevalence of infanticide was 0.42 per 100,000 live births per year. Infanticide often occurred during the week, in winter (31.5%) and in spring (30.9%). The newborn was often found on public roads (40.9%) and in urban areas (81.4%). The newborn was often full-term (73.6%), mature, without any congenital malformation, found completely naked (75.2%) and with an empty stomach (93.7%). The umbilical cord was often cut (71.5%), not ligated (82%) with an irregular edge (64%). There was often no putrefaction (54.4%). The hydrostatic test (81.8%) and histological examination (81.1%) showed that infants had breathed. Neglect was the most common cause of death (49.9%).

CONCLUSION

Northern Tunisia has a low prevalence of infanticide compared to most of the previous European and American studies. A better understanding of infanticide would allow us to adapt measures of prevention.

The worldwide incidence of neonaticide: a systematic review

Neonaticide is the killing of a neonate on the day of its birth by his/her own mother. Neonaticidal women were reported to be predominantly young, unmarried, and primiparous. The motive for murdering the newborn relates to the shame, the fear of rejection, and abandonment by significant others, and the social stigmas associated with an illegitimate birth. The goal of the present study was to conduct a systematic review of the scientific literature and identify population-based studies reporting the incidence of neonaticide in different countries. A total of 485 abstracts were screened. After applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 10 studies were selected. Additional searches identified two more articles. Most of these studies were from Europe, where incidence varied from 0.07 (Finland, 1980-2000 period) to 8.5 neonaticides per 100000 births (Austria, 1975-2001 period). More recent studies have indicated that a growing proportion of neonaticidal women are married, multiparous, and suffers from mental disorders. Preventive measures, such as anonymous free delivery, were shown to reduce the incidence of neonaticide, although this effect may be short-lived. Despite social and institutional changes, neonaticide persists even in the most socially advanced, liberal, and prosperous societies in the world.