This episode appears to be based on two separate cases:
- The 1996 Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson case. On November 12, 1996, Grossberg, then an 18-year-old at the University of Delaware, gave birth to a baby boy in a room at the Comfort Inn in Newark, Delaware. She had hid her pregnancy from everyone but Peterson. Peterson, then an 18-year-old student at Gettysburg College and Grossberg's longtime boyfriend, delivered the child. Conflicting stories have made the subsequent events a mystery to anyone except the couple, but Peterson and Grossberg claim they believed the infant to be stillborn, wrapped him in a garbage bag, and disposed of him in a dumpster. The bloody sheets were discovered by a cleaning woman, who immediately contacted the police. After returning to school, Grossberg began to have severe seizures as a result of not having expelled the placenta. She was taken to a hospital and it was clear to the doctors that she had just given birth. Not long after, police officials and the hospital put the two incidents together. K-9 Police dogs found the body in the dumpster.
- The 1997 Melissa Drexler (a.k.a. "The Prom Mom") case. Drexler was a teenage high school student in 1997 who delivered her baby in a restroom stall during her high school prom dance. She put the baby in the trash can and then returned to the dance. Drexler pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. After serving three years and one month she was released on parole.
Syntocinon is the brand name for oxytocin, which is a hormone that plays an important role in emotional bonding, sexual reproduction and labor. It is also called "the love hormone" since high levels of oxytocin are released in the brain whenever a person is experiencing the emotion of love. In women oxytocin plays an important role in preparing the body for labor, once released it causes the uterus and cervix to stretch and enlarge and it also induces the muscle contractions during labor. It also plays an important role in breastfeeding and bonding as stimulation of the nipples causes larges amount of oxytocin to be produced in the brain and is responsible for lactation and the intimate feelings and emotions a woman experiences while breastfeeding and helps mother and child form an emotional bond. As a medication it is used to artificially induce labor and to induce lactation in mothers who are having difficulty producing breast milk.
This is J.K. Simmons's first appearance as Dr. Emil Skoda. Dr. Skoda appears in 45 episodes of this series and makes several appearances in New York Undercover (1994), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001).
Jan Maxwell has played four different roles over the course of the series:
- Episode 5.1 Second Opinion (1994) - Dr. Nancy Haas.
- Episode 8.2 Denial (1997) - Mrs. Sarah Talbert.
- Episode 11.3 Dissonance (2000) - Marian Reger.
- Episode 14.7 Floater (2003) - Judge Ruth Alexander.
Mark Zimmerman has played five different characters over the course of the series:
- Episode 2.17 Sisters of Mercy (1992) - Polygraph Tester.
- Episode 3.17 Conduct Unbecoming (1993) - Mooren.
- Episode 6.18 Atonement (1996) - Frederick Scannel.
- Episode 8.2 Denial (1997) - Judge Nathan Murray.
- Episode 11.15 Swept Away - A Very Special Episode (2001) - Lawyer for Gavin.
- Episode 14.2 Bounty (2003) onwards - Judge Nathan Murphy.