Vancouver resident Sarah Leung has been sentenced to a total of five years in prison for killing her two babies.

Leung was sentenced in court in Vancouver on Tuesday to 18 months for killing one child and 42 months for killing the other, minus 50 days for time served.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mary Humphries said Leung was afflicted with a disturbed mind, and called her actions "horrific" and "hard to understand," noting she is now married to the father of the infants she killed.

Leung's sentence also requires her to notify provincial child-welfare officials any time she becomes pregnant over the next 20 years.

Outside the court, Leung's lawyer Richard Fowler said it was a difficult case.

"She was responsible for two counts of infanticide, that is why she was sentenced today, but yes her whole family was very, very upset."

Fowler also said Leung knew she was going to prison and was not dealing with it well, but he hoped she would use her time for rehabilitation.

"One of the principle concerns here is rehabilitation. Hopefully she will get some help understanding herself and how she deals with life and pregnancy," he said.

During the trial in April the court heard Leung hid her two pregnancies, fearing the reaction of her father, who was described at trial as "abusive and controlling".

The court also heard that Leung delivered the baby boys into the toilet in the family home, disposing of them in plastic bags in the garbage.

Her father discovered the first baby's body in a clear plastic bag outside the home in 2009 and the police were called. The second child (born a year later) was never found, but is believed to have been buried in a Delta landfill.

Leung's partner knew of the pregnancies, but she told him she had miscarried.