The two-year research, carried out by the charity Disability Rights International, also found that such mothers are often blamed for the conditions of their children.

More than two thirds of mothers interviewed said disabled children were considered a curse.

They told researchers they were accused of having sinned - and brought it upon themselves.

One said her grandmother suggested she put needles in her son’s veins to kill him slowly. Another that she should feed her child acid.

The study did not however reveal the proportion of parents who actually ended their disabled babies’ lives.

But the BBC was told that infanticide is carried out secretly and often goes unreported.

Many communities across the world which carried out infanticide in the past have ended the practice. It is illegal in Kenya.