College of Nursing/College of Law, The University of Iowa, 50 Newton Road, Rm. 360 CNB, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
Arch Womens Ment Health. 2013 Aug;16(4):259-70. doi: 10.1007/s00737-013-0359-6. Epub 2013 Jun 6.
Accumulating research documenting the prevalence and negative effects of perinatal depression, together with highly publicized tragic critical incidents of suicide and filicide by mothers with postpartum psychosis, have fueled a continuum of legislation. Specialists in perinatal mental health should recognize how their work influences legislative initiatives and penal codes, and take this into consideration when developing perinatal services and research. Yet, without legal expertise, the status of legislative initiatives can be confusing. To address this shortfall, we assembled an interdisciplinary team of academics specializing in law, as well as perinatal mental health, to summarize these issues. This review presents the relevant federal and state legislation and summarizes the criminal codes that governed the court decisions on cases in which a mother committed filicide because of postpartum psychosis. Moreover, the review aims to help researchers and providers who specialize in perinatal depression understand their role in this legal landscape.
越来越多的研究记录了围产期抑郁的普遍性和负面影响，加上母亲产后精神病导致自杀和杀婴等备受关注的悲剧性重大事件，推动了一系列立法。围产期心理健康专家应该认识到他们的工作如何影响立法倡议和刑法典，并在制定围产期服务和研究时考虑到这一点。然而，由于缺乏法律专业知识，立法倡议的状况可能令人困惑。为了解决这一不足，我们组建了一个由法律以及围产期心理健康领域的专家组成的跨学科团队，对这些问题进行总结。本综述介绍了相关的联邦和州立法，并总结了管辖因产后精神病而杀婴的母亲的法院判决的刑法典。此外，本综述旨在帮助专门研究围产期抑郁的研究人员和提供者了解他们在这一法律领域中的作用。
