Support is growing for triple murder convicted Lauren Dickason as she faces a life sentence for each of her children's deaths.
A protest has been planned ahead of the sentencing day in support of the killer mum who had not long moved to New Zealand from South Africa before the offending took place.
On August 16, after a month-long trial at the High Court in Christchurch, Dickason was found guilty of murdering her children - 6-year-old Liané and 2-year-old twins Maya and Karla.
She is due to be sentenced on December 19.
In New Zealand, anyone who is convicted of murder must be sentenced to imprisonment for life unless it would be "manifestly unjust" to do so.
At Dickason's sentencing, Justice Cameron Mander will be tasked with setting a minimum term of imprisonment and deciding where she will be detained.
Since her conviction, Dickason has been remanded to a hospital psychiatric unit. Justice Mander has requested expert reports about her mental health and psychiatric care before she is sentenced.
More than 1000 people have joined a Facebook page called "Support Lauren Dickason" where a protest is being organised in Christchurch in November.
Local media have reported Dickason's father is a member of the group.
A petition, with hundreds of signatures, has also been launched in the wake of Dickason's conviction. It urges Justice Mander to consider the plight of women who suffer from post-partum depression and its presence as a "public health crisis" in his sentencing.
"This petition urges that post-partum depression be acknowledged in the legal profession as an urgent public health issue that needs to be addressed. We plead with High Court Judge Cameron Mander to consider this in his sentencing of Lauren.
"We appeal for wisdom, humanity and compassion in her sentencing," the petition spear-headed by Tanya Parker said.
Some of those who had signed the petition left comments in support of Dickason and acknowledged the mental health struggles she went through.
"Having sat through much of Lauren Dickason’s trial, it is my opinion that she has been the victim of a huge miscarriage of justice," one person wrote.
"Lauren will have to live with this for the rest of her days. For someone who has suffered so much surely this in itself is a just punishment," another said. "There are no winners in this situation and putting her behind bars achieves nothing."
"I firmly believe Lauren is a victim in this situation. She was not in her right mind at all," a third wrote.
It took the jury 15 hours to decide the 42-year-old mum murdered her three children. They reached a majority verdict of eleven-to-one after they could not come to a unanimous decision.
Dickason's lawyers argued the defence of insanity or infanticide. The Crown refuted this, arguing while she was suffering from a depressive episode it was not caused by childbirth or any consequence arising from childbirth.
In not accepting the defence's argument, the jury determined Lauren was capable of knowing at the time of the offence killing her children was morally wrong. It also means the jury found Lauren's mind was not disturbed because of childbirth to such an extent that she should not be held fully responsible.
However, after her conviction, Dickason's parents - who sat through every day of her trial - released a statement on behalf of their family encouraging others to be aware of the symptoms of post-partum depression.
"This was not our daughter, but a debilitating mental illness which resulted in an awful tragedy, the details of which you are by now well aware," they wrote.
"Our beloved Lianè, Karla and Maya were taken from this life to another as a result of this crippling disease."
