ABSTRACT

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) is about the caregiver (perpetrator) who abuses and reveals signs of a disease of the victim because of her/his own psychological needs such as attracting and getting attention. Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is a complicated form of. child abuse form, which may cause important physiological and psychological effects and has mortality risk in the long-term period. In a study, 93% of the cases found the perpetrator to be the mother, followed by the female babysitter and the father. Usually, the symptoms disappear during the mother’s or the caregiver’s absence. The more frequently reported findings are bleeding, apnoea, nutritional problems, vomiting, diarrhoea, convulsion, cyanosis, asthma, allergies, fever and pain. In studies conducted, the death rate is reported to be between 6% and 10% in the victims. Common opinion is that if no response is received from the practitioners in the treatment or if insufficient progress is shown (e.g., in a six months period), victims should be taken from their environment and should not be given back to their families. Here, we are representing a female perpetrator of MSBP who gives damage to her children by traumas like recurrent bone fractures and tissue damage, and as a result of a forensic notification, whose children are taken away and given to foster care.