Forensic Medicine in Western Society by Katherine D. Watson

Author:Katherine D. Watson [Watson, Katherine D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Medical, Forensic Medicine, Social Science, Criminology, True Crime, Murder
ISBN: 9781136890574
Google: S2bFBQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2010-11-01T01:16:08+00:00

more important to her case, though, was his opinion about her state of mind: ‘there is a sympathetic connection between the uterine organs and the brain – during conception and child-bearing, and afterwards, when giving milk, women are more susceptible of mental disturbance than at other periods. I think there is a great tendency to mental disturbance during delivery, and in the case of a person of weak intellect I think it might be increased; there would be less power of mental control and less appreciation of facts.’ But this was not to say that she was insane or did not know right from wrong. Finally, the prison chaplain – as someone who had also spent time with the prisoner – declared his confidence in Gibson’s opinion. Rose Matthews was convicted not of murder but of concealing the birth of her child and sentenced to the maximum two years’ imprisonment.

Her case illustrates the difficulty in proving live birth and separate existence beyond reasonable doubt, the tendency of juries to accept that even the most violent wounds might have been inflicted accidentally, and the medical belief that women were liable to temporary insanity caused by childbirth. Although very much a typical Victorian case, Rose Matthews’ experience embodies many of the characteristics that have historically defined infanticide, including the refusal of pregnant young women to admit their condition, an amazing stoicism, and society’s general wish to treat mothers with compassion founded on both social and medical grounds.

Source: The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674–1913, reference number: t18671028–965, online at http://www.oldbaileyonline.org (accessed on 26 May 2010).

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