PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Susan Hatters Friedman
AU  - Renée Sorrentino
TI  - Commentary: Postpartum Psychosis, Infanticide, and Insanity—Implications for Forensic Psychiatry
DP  - 2012 Sep 01
TA  - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
PG  - 326--332
VI  - 40
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jaapl.org/content/40/3/326.short
4100  - http://jaapl.org/content/40/3/326.full
SO  - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2012 Sep 01; 40
AB  - 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.