Twice-yearly testing as part of woman’s sentence for killing newborn is being described as first decision of its kind 
 
 A Canadian woman who pleaded guilty to killing her newborn baby will have to take a pregnancy test twice a year as part of her sentence, in what is being described as the first decision of its kind in Canada. 
 
 The court heard that the 43-year-old woman from Montreal, whose name is being withheld to protect her children, gave birth at home in 2016 to her fourth child. She had not realised she was pregnant. 
 
 Her partner found the woman in their bathtub, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The baby appeared to have been wounded and had been placed in a plastic bag. After three days in the hospital, the baby died from asphyxiation. 
 
 The mother was later diagnosed with “non-psychotic pregnancy denial” and dissociative amnesia. She pleaded guilty to one count of infanticide in November. 
 
 On Thursday, a Quebec court judge handed down a 20-month sentence of house arrest as well as three years of probation. The judge also ordered the woman to submit the results of her pregnancy tests to her supervising officer while under house arrest and then to her probation officers for three years. 
 
 The condition – believed to be the first time in Canada that a judge has ordered pregnancy tests – was agreed to by both the defence and prosecution, her lawyer told reporters. 
 
 “In this particular case, I find that all the circumstances called for it, and my client accepted it,” said Joseph La Leggia. The woman would not be prevented from having another baby, he added, but the tests ensure that “there will be no more denial of pregnancy as there was the last time”. 
 
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 The case marked the second time in recent years that the woman had failed to realise she was pregnant. The first time she found out she was 32 weeks pregnant after an injury forced her to visit a hospital, according to the Montreal Gazette. Her pregnancy was subsequently monitored and the baby was not harmed. 
 
 Prosecutors had argued that sending the mother to prison would penalise her three children by depriving them of their mother. Citing a report from youth protection authorities, the judge noted that the woman posed no risk to her other children. 
 
 “The accused is described as a gentle, patient and responsible mother,” said judge Linda Despots. “Despite the amnesia, she feels a strong sense of guilt. She expresses great suffering and describes the situation as a tragedy.” ||||| A mother of three who pleaded guilty to killing her newborn child was sentenced to house arrest Thursday and ordered to submit two pregnancy tests a year for the duration of her sentence — something her lawyer believes is a first in Canada. 
 
 The 43-year-old Montreal woman, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to one charge of infanticide last November after giving birth at home in July 2016 without knowing she was pregnant. 
 
 The child was placed in a plastic bag and died from the effects of asphyxiation three days later in a hospital. 
 
 At the Montreal courthouse on Thursday, the woman was sentenced to 20 months of house arrest followed by three years of probation. 
 
 She was also ordered to take a pregnancy test every six months and submit the results to her supervising officer while under house arrest. She will then need to submit them to her probation officer for the following three years. 
 
 The order was part of a joint sentence recommendation made by the Crown and the defence. 
 
 In her ruling on the sentence, Quebec Court Judge Linda Despots said the required pregnancy tests will help reassure the public that the woman is not a risk to reoffend. 
 
 It was the second time the woman didn’t know she was pregnant, Despots said. The time before, she was informed she was 32 weeks pregnant after going to a hospital for an injury. She was followed closely throughout the rest of that pregnancy. 
 
 After the sentencing, defence lawyer Joseph La Leggia said his client is already voluntarily testing for pregnancy each month. 
 
 “I think it was more wanted than necessary,” La Leggia said about the order. “Each case is its own case. In this particular case, I think all the circumstances called for it and my client accepted it.” 
 
 Despots said the woman received a diagnosis of “non-psychotic denial of pregnancy” and dissociative amnesia when taken to a hospital in July 2016. The diagnosis was later confirmed by another psychiatrist. 
 
 Citing a report from Quebec’s youth-protection service (DPJ), which became involved with the family after the newborn’s death, Despots said the woman, who is married, is a devoted mother who regrets what happened. 
 
 “The accused is described as a gentle, patient and responsible mother,” Despots said. “Despite the amnesia, she feels a strong sense of guilt. She expresses great suffering and describes the situation as a tragedy.” 
 
 The woman was initially charged with second-degree murder, but the Crown reduced the charge to infanticide after analyzing the criteria. 
 
 Per Canada’s Criminal Code, a woman can be charged with infanticide when she causes the death of her newly born child at a time when she is “not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth to the child” and “her mind is then disturbed.” 
 
 The maximum sentence for the charge is a five-year prison term. 
 
 As part of her sentence, the woman will need to follow a strict 24-hour curfew for the first 10 months of her house arrest, and then be at home from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the remaining 10 months. 
 
 Wearing a black dress to court, the woman stood in silence before the judge as she learned her sentence. A man accompanying her kept his eyes fixed on the courtroom floor. 
 
 La Leggia said his client doesn’t remember what happened that day but does feel a deep remorse — she met the newborn during the three days in hospital between its birth and death, he said. 
 
 La Leggia said she’s undergoing psychiatric therapy and will continue to do so. 
 
 “She’s doing a lot better today,” he said. “As far as what happened that day, she’s a totally different woman.” 
 
 jfeith@postmedia.com 
 
 Twitter.com/jessefeith ||||| A Montreal woman who admitted in court to killing her newborn baby has agreed to take pregnancy tests twice a year as part of her sentence, the first of its kind in Canada. 
 
 The mother, 43, whose name is being withheld to protect the identities of her three living children, pleaded guilty to one count of infanticide last November. 
 
 She was sentenced Thursday at the Montreal courthouse by Quebec court Judge Linda Despots. 
 
 The woman was also given a 20-month suspended sentence under house arrest, as well as three years of probation. 
 
 She will have to submit the results of the tests to her supervising officer during her house arrest, and then to her probation officer for three years. 
 
 Both the defence and the prosecution agreed on that aspect of the sentence together, the woman's lawyer, Joseph La Leggia, told reporters. 
 
 "I think it was more wanted than necessary," he said. "In this particular case, I find that all the circumstances called for it, and my client accepted it." 
 
 'No more denial of pregnancy' 
 
 La Leggia said the woman would honour the conditions of her sentence to avoid another surprise pregnancy. About three years before the infant died, the woman got pregnant without realizing but did not harm that baby. 
 
 Her lawyer said she would be allowed to have a baby, but "there will be no more denial of pregnancy as there was the last time." 
 
 Almost two years ago, the woman gave birth to her fourth child, a girl, alone in her bathroom, not knowing she was pregnant, the court heard. 
 
 Her partner found the woman bloodied in their bathtub. The baby was found in a plastic bag, still alive and with head wounds, which appeared to have been inflicted with scissors. 
 
 The infant died a few days later in hospital. 
 
 The mother's lawyer, Joseph La Leggia, is confident she will honour the proposed conditions. (Radio-Canada) 
 
 In her ruling, Despots cited the woman's probation officer, who said this was an isolated case, involving a mentally fragile person. 
 
 She said youth protection got involved after the baby's death, but found the woman posed no risk to her other children. 
 
 Quebec's youth protection service, known by its French acronym DPJ, described the woman as an excellent mother and said she doesn't represent a risk to her three children, according to a report read out in court by the prosecutor during sentencing arguments. 
 
 "She is a woman who has a lot of remorse. She suffered depression after the death of her child," said prosecutor France Duhamel. 
 
 The DPJ dropped the woman's file last December. 
 
 Duhamel said she wants to avoid depriving the children of their mother by sending her to prison. 
 
 Infanticide laws 
 
 The woman was originally charged with second-degree murder but the charge was reduced to infanticide. 
 
 The Criminal Code makes an important distinction between infanticide and murder or manslaughter. 
 
 An infanticide charge takes into account the potentially imbalanced mental state of a woman who just gave birth, and carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. 
 
 That is much less severe than the penalties for first and second-degree murder, which carry automatic sentences of life in prison, and manslaughter, which carries no minimum or maximum.
– A Canadian woman who pleaded guilty to killing her newborn after an unrecognized pregnancy has been handed what's believed to be the first decision of its kind in Canada: The 43-year-old woman must take a pregnancy test every six months for the next five years and submit the results to authorities, a Montreal court ruled Thursday, per the Guardian. The move comes after the woman gave birth unexpectedly at her home in July 2016. The newborn, the woman's fourth child, was found in a plastic bag with head wounds apparently inflicted with scissors and died from the effects of asphyxiation days later at a hospital, reports the CBC. The mother, whose name has not been released, was diagnosed with non-psychotic pregnancy denial and dissociative amnesia. It was the second time she had failed to recognize she was pregnant, though in the other case she was alerted to the pregnancy during an unrelated hospital visit at 32 weeks and there was no harm done to the resulting child, reports the Montreal Gazette. If she gets pregnant again, her sentence means "there will be no more denial of pregnancy as there was the last time," her lawyer, Joseph La Leggia, tells the CBC. He tells the Gazette his client is voluntarily taking pregnancy tests each month. The sentence will also see the woman serve 20 months of house arrest and three years of probation for infanticide. Quebec's youth protection service previously found the woman was an excellent mother who posed no risk to her other children. (A mother of three had amnesia for a decade.)