A forensic examination of the corpse of a newborn is necessary in order to accurately determine the cause of death of the latter, as well as to answer the question of whether the child was alive at the time of his birth. In this case, the MEA is appointed by the investigator without fail. A study of the corpse of a newborn is carried out before or after the initiation of a criminal case. More details about all this will be discussed in this article.
the main thing
After the baby’s body is discovered, law enforcement officers are faced with the question of conducting a forensic examination of the corpse of a newborn baby. The reason for the appointment of the study will be the presence of signs of violent death, as a result of which the baby received injuries incompatible with life. As a rule, various situations occur in practice. This is especially true in cases where childbirth takes place outside the walls of a special medical institution and with the use of independent non-professional assistance.
Quite often, women who lead an asocial lifestyle and do not want to raise a child in the future do not specifically register for pregnancy in a antenatal clinic to hide their interesting situation. As a rule, in such situations, the expectant mother immediately knows that after the birth of the baby she will secretly get rid of him. Therefore, often law enforcement officers or passers-by find corpses of newborns in trash bins or on the street. Sometimes there are situations when a baby dies before his birth (being in the womb) or immediately after birth. In order to understand the causes of the infant’s death, a forensic examination of the corpse of the newborn is prescribed. But how does everything happen and what are the nuances?
Features
The features are manifested in the fact that when examining the body of an infant, the expert has to solve certain problems that are not set for him in a detailed study of the corpse of an adult.
The issues that are indicated in the decree on the implementation of the BMS include the following:
- whether the child was born alive;
- whether the baby was born full-term;
- how long the life of the child continued after birth;
- whether the infant was viable;
- how much time he lived in the womb of his mother.
In addition, in this case, unusual methods and research techniques are used. All of the above issues prescribed in the decision on the forensic medical examination of the corpse of a newborn should be raised along with the question of the cause of the death of the child. It should also be noted here that the specialist examines not only the surface of the body of a dead baby, but also the umbilical cord and placenta (if they are delivered).
Newborn
This term is widely used not only by pediatricians and obstetricians, but also by forensic experts when examining the body of a dead baby. A newborn is a child in the first 24 hours of his life and before reaching the age of one month. The definition of this criterion is mandatory when deciding whether to initiate proceedings when there was infanticide by the mother of her own baby.
If it is not possible to establish the exact life span of the child, because there is no documentary evidence confirming the age of the baby, then the newborn is considered to be in the presence of traces indicating recent birth (blood on the body, remains of the umbilical cord and placenta). A baby who has lived more than two months or died in the womb is not considered such. Thus, conducting a forensic examination of the corpses of newborns requires a detailed study and accurate determination of the age of the baby.
Full-term
This is another important concept that is used by specialists when conducting a forensic examination of the baby’s body. As a rule, a child born after a nine-month development in the womb of his mother is considered to be full-term. A baby who was born earlier than this period will be premature, that is, weaker and in need of additional medical care. A child born before 28 weeks of development is a miscarriage.
Nevertheless, not everyone understands why specialists use this term in their practical activities when conducting a forensic medical examination of corpses of newborns. So, this is necessary in order to exclude the death of the baby before his birth, as well as to confirm his viability after childbirth.
Maturity
Here is the court. honey. examination of the corpse of a newborn allows determining the correspondence of anthropometric data of the infant to its intrauterine development. In this case, specialists measure the weight and height of the child, the width of the head and shoulders. This is done in order to know exactly what period of intrauterine development corresponds to a dead infant.
Live birth
This term applies only to those babies in whom, after birth, there were signs of life (breathing, palpitations, pulsation of the umbilical cord). In this case, the term of birth of the child does not matter - whether it is full-term or not. If the baby was born alive, then in the opinion on the conduct of a forensic examination this will be written.
Was there baby care
It's no secret that any newborn child needs special care. Therefore, leaving the latter without nutrition and adult care may end for the baby death.
On this basis, a specialist who has received a decision from an investigator to conduct a study of the corpse of a newborn child should conduct an examination in such a way as to determine not only the cause of the death of the latter, but also signs of improper care for the baby (if any). A kid left without food and clothes can live only a few days.
Crime or not?
Unfortunately, but now the mortality rate of newborns has seriously increased. In addition, quite often from the media you can hear that mothers themselves cause suffering to their children, and they die at the hands of their parents, not even surviving to one month. It is for this reason that law enforcement officers who find a child’s body in a forest or public place, in a landfill with garbage, as well as in any other locality, immediately have the question of initiating a criminal case and conducting a forensic examination.
After all, only a study of the corpses of newborn children, conducted by a specialist in a medical institution, will help resolve the issue of the presence or absence of signs of violent death of dead babies. Mothers who inflict death on their babies are responsible for what they have done under article 106 of the Criminal Code. This applies to cases when a woman takes the life of her newborn child who is not even one month old. If the murder of a child is committed by another person, the latter will be responsible for this criminal act under Article 105 of the Criminal Code.
Total
Once again, I would like to say that when conducting a study of the baby’s body, a forensic expert must answer a number of questions posed to him regarding the cause of the death of the latter. He also needs to establish signs of improper care for the child, his full-term, maturity and vitality. If the baby dies immediately after birth, the investigator has the right to appoint an examination before opening the case and starting a preliminary investigation. Because in most cases, the death of a newborn after its birth in a medical institution has no signs of a criminal act. Nevertheless, anything happens.
If the baby’s body was found somewhere in a public place or in a forest, then the case is initiated immediately. Then all investigative measures are already carried out, and an examination of the corpse of the found child is scheduled. In this case, it is not always possible to find the mother of the deceased baby, who is possibly guilty of the death of her own child.