Deconstructing idealized motherhood: the extreme case of neonaticidal women

First Published January 29, 2017.
In this article, we provide a feminist perspective on neonaticidal women while critically
examining the mainstream literature. We analyze 26 cases reported between 2003
and 2013 in a Portuguese online newspaper. We conclude that neonaticide must be
framed by two main lines of thought: Motherhood is a social construction that imposes
difficult-to-achieve norms, and it is a complex experience, intercepted by age, social
class, marital status, and having other children. This approach should encourage a
shift from the present focus on palliative and punitive measures to a more preemptive
one including new policies on sexual education and pregnancy termination.
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653).
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