Why do Mothers kill their Infants?

One of the themes of Inconceivable! is the unspoken crime of infanticide, which occurs in conjunction with post-partum depression, sometimes, but other times in an attempt to deny pregnancy ever occurred.  And while Inconceivable! is fiction, the following is an example of the reality of maternal infanticide.

KEARNS, Utah (AP) — A newborn baby was in extremely critical condition Tuesday after her 24-year-old mother left her in a neighbor's trash can in Utah, a state that allows mothers to drop off newborns at hospitals without consequences, police and health officials said.

A woman heard what she thought was a kitten meowing in the trash bin in the Salt Lake City suburb of Kearns on Tuesday morning and found the baby, Unified Police Detective Jared Richardson said.

Richardson says the girl was airlifted to a hospital in Salt Lake City, where she's now on a ventilator and fighting for her life.

Her mother, who was being questioned by police, later returned and told officers she had left the baby about an hour before the child was found.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder, who oversees the Unified Police Department, said authorities believe the baby girl was born Sunday.

Winder said at a news conference that investigators did not have any information about where the mother gave birth or why she may have left the baby in the trash can.

An unidentified woman is escorted from a home by a police officer after a baby was found in a garbage …"We had a young lady make a very, very terrible decision," he said.

Police would decide whether to arrest the mother after interviewing her, Winder said. Generally, anyone who abandons a child can face felony charges, in addition to any abuse or neglect charges, he said.

There were no visible injuries to the child and no information about the child's father, Winder said.

At the news conference, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and health officials listed resources available for expectant and new mothers, including a crisis hotline and the state's safe haven law, which allows mothers to leave newborns at hospitals, no questions asked.

Inconceivable! by Steve Marshall Cohen