title: Commentary: postpartum psychosis, infanticide, and insanity--implications for forensic psychiatry.
abstract: Two dozen nations have infanticide laws that decrease the penalty for mothers who kill their children of up to one year of age. The United States does not have such a law, but mentally ill mothers may plead not guilty by reason of insanity. As in other crimes, in addition to the diagnosis of a mental disorder, other factors, such as knowledge of wrongfulness and motive, are critical to the assessment. Postpartum psychosis has been described for 2,000 years and modern science supports a genetic component to the risk. Yet, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not include it as a diagnosis, leading to difficulty in testimony. In this article, we discuss postpartum psychosis, infanticide law, and research regarding mothers who kill, and we make recommendations to forensic psychiatrists.
authors.affiliation: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA. susanhfmd@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hatters Friedman
authors.forename: Renée
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sorrentino
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007237:Infanticide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D007298:Insanity Defense; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000523:psychology*