Background. The right to life - the most important human right, is perpetuated and protected with all legal jurisdictions and international law. In various cultures, the killing of babies is watching differently. Infanticide can be carried on the economic-social causes, of a travail ing woman's mental state or planning a crime intentionally.
In this article we have provided a mothers who murdered their newborn characteristics, with emphasis on legal and forensic medical assessment of neonaticide.
Material and methods. Lithuanian and foreign authors, children's literature of newborns killing issue. The results are evaluated descriptive statistical methods.
Results. We have analyzed the characteristics of neonaticide in Lithuania and the world. In this article we describe a case where a 23 year old woman has denied the all pregnancy period that expecting, any health institution has not visited. After the childbirth a male infant dead body was found with signs of violence. Determined the cause of death of a newborn was mechanical asphyxia by closing airways.
Conclusion. According to the article 131 of the Criminal Code, a mother killing of the own newborn can be blamed if the child is killed within 28 days of birth. The murder can be passive, when the baby is left without care and support, and active due to the different ways of me i chanical asphyxia as suffocation in a variety of ways by disrupted respiratory function. The largest risk that the newborn will be killed is the first day of life, and further the murder probability decreases. Those killed on the first day of life 95% were born not at the hospifal. The most common neonatal murder commits his mother. The average age of mothers committed this crime is 15-19 and 20-26 years old.
Keywords: neonaticide, infanticide, pregnancy denial, suffocation.
