Neonaticide

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (September 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

This article may relate to a different subject or has undue weight on an aspect of the subject. Please help relocate relevant information and remove irrelevant ones. (January 2019)

Neonaticide is the deliberate act of a parent murdering their own child during the first 24 hours of life.^[1][2] As a noun, the word "neonaticide" may also refer to anyone who practices or who has practiced this.

Neonaticide is relatively rare in developed countries, but most of these murders remain secret:

"...every year, hundreds of women commit neonaticide: they kill their newborns or let them die. Most neonaticides remain undiscovered, but every once in a while a janitor follows a trail of blood to a tiny body in a trash bin, or a woman faints and doctors find the remains of a placenta inside her."

— Steven Pinker, The New York Times, 1997^[3]

Neonaticide is considerably more commonly committed by mothers than fathers; infanticide is also more likely to be committed by mothers than fathers. A 1999 United States Department of Justice study concluded that between 1976 and 1997 in the United States, mothers were responsible for a higher share of children killed during infancy, while fathers were more likely to have been responsible for the murders of children age eight or older.^[4]