No. Infanticide continued to occur within families while the mother and baby homes were in operation. Several mothers were convicted of killing their infants and sentenced to death, though all sentences were commuted. If we ask what possible benefit the women managing these homes would have gained from such crimes, the entire narrative collapses into a conspiracy theory. Not only was there no incentive, but there were also significant deterrents and unacceptable risks.
First, while the Irish legal system and juries were notably lenient toward mothers convicted of infanticide, they were far less forgiving of others. Second, even if the threat of a death sentence was not enough, religious women faced an even greater deterrent—the risk of excommunication, which would have destroyed their life’s work and standing within the Church. Third, all deaths were legally certified, and any unexpected or unexplained fatalities triggered a coroner’s inquest. Fourth, the diseases that claimed the lives of infants in these homes were the same illnesses that killed c. 250,000 children who were born to married parents across Ireland. Finally, no historical case of mass murder involved issuing death certificates for its victims.
