“Safe havens” for unwanted babies could reduce infanticide

An estimated 85 newborn infants are killed or left to die in the United States each year, according to new research. More “safe havens,” where unwanted babies could be left, would reduce the rate of infanticide, says the study, in the Journal of the American Medical Association (2003;289:1425-9).

Researchers from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, examined all reports in the state between 1985 and 2000 of liveborn babies who died aged less than five days old. The 34 cases of infanticide they found was the equivalent of 2.1 infanticides per 100 000 births a year. Extrapolating from the figures, the researchers estimate that at least 85 newborns are killed or left to die each year in the United States. “Safe haven” laws in 42 states allow the anonymous surrender of unwanted infants to a responsible adult, hospital, police station, fire station, or other government authority.

Publicity about such safe havens could save lives, said the study's lead author, Dr Marcia Herman-Giddens, who was medical director of the North Carolina child fatality prevention team in the office of the chief medical examiner and is now with the North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute.

“Half of the mothers were over 18, the oldest was 32, [and] the average age was 19.1. About 20% were married, 35% had children already, and almost a quarter had received some prenatal care, although often late,” Dr Herman-Giddens said. As the study looked at records, the mothers were not interviewed. Some mothers had been traced and details recorded when they sought medical care or when the dead baby was found.

Twenty of the babies were boys and 12 were girls (two were unidentifiable because of decomposition). This sex difference was statistically significant. Although 28% of newborns in the state were black, about half the dead babies were black. The finding goes against the common perception that black extended families accept births to unmarried mothers and that older relatives provide care.

The motivations for the murders were not clear. “In one case the brother was the father. In another case she'd been raped,” Dr Herman-Giddens said. “It may be that in some cases the husband was not the father, or that he was the father but it was an abusive relationship in which he did not allow birth control. The study only scratched the surface.”

She said that at first she thought there were many more undiscovered infanticides, but she now believes there are few, because of the difficulty of concealing a pregnancy, going through labour and birth in privacy, and coping with medical problems, cleaning up the birth site, and disposing of the infant without being found out at any stage.

“I don't think we're talking about thousands [of infanticides],” she said, but she called for publicity about safe havens. Although North Carolina has a law on safe havens, there is no money to publicise them through flyers at marriage licence bureaus and prenatal care facilities. Sex education courses teach abstinence only and are unlikely sites for such flyers.