TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - "The child has lived and breathed." Forensic examinations of newborns 1910-1912
JO  - Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening
A1  - Alfsen, G. Cecilie
A1  - Ellingsen, Christian Lycke
A1  - Hernæs, Lotte
SP  - 2498
EP  - 2501
VL  - 133
IS  - 23/24
N2  - One hundred years ago, forensic examination of dead infants was not an uncommon task for doctors in Norway. The key questions were whether the infant had been born alive and whether the manner of death could be explained. We have examined all files (N = 75) concerning stillbirth or infanticide for the years 1910 - 1912 in the archives of the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine. Notwithstanding the known shortcomings in the criteria used for assessment of breathing and the fact that the bodies were often severely decomposed, the lung flotation test and the supposed signs of asphyxia were used indiscriminately. Many innocent women were probably imprisoned for infanticide due to peremptory use of criteria now recognised as largely obsolete. Scientific knowledge is changing continuously. Medical experts should be cautious of making judicial conclusions.    Keywords: Drowning; Drowning prevention <p />  <p>Language: no</p>
LA  - no
SN  - 0029-2001
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.4045/tidsskr.13.0898
ID  - ref1
ER  -