MEDT230 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Child Murder, Putrefaction, Infant

• School: University of Delaware
• Department: Medical Laboratory Sciences
• Course: MEDT230
• Professor: Jarrett Earl

Document Summary

If the lungs sink in water, it is presumed to have been a stillborn. If putrefaction has taken place, even in a stillborn, the lungs might float. This is an issue: once it has been established that a child was born alive, one has to determine how the child was killed. Most common method of killing infants at this age is suffocation. Suffocation is accomplished by the direct application of a hand over the face, by obstructing the nose and mouth with an object such as a pillow or by placing the child in a plastic bag. Less common methods are strangulation, stuffing the mouth with rags or toilet paper, drowning the child in a toilet, throwing child off elevated structure, and abandonment with death caused by exposure or lack of care. People generally do not bash heads against the wall or stomp neonates. Unfortunately, suffocation of a neonate usually leaves no physical signs.