Babylost: Racism, Survival, and the Quiet Politics of Infant Mortality, from A to Z

by Monica J. Casper

The U.S. infant mortality rate is among the highest in the industrialized world, and Black babies are far more likely than white babies to die in their first year of life. Maternal mortality rates are also very high. Though the infant mortality rate overall has improved over the past century with public health interventions, racial disparities have not. Racism, poverty, lack of access to health care, and other causes of death have been identified, but not yet adequately addressed. The tragedy is it is undoubtedly tragic that babies die in their first year of life, and it is both tragic and unacceptable that most of these deaths are preventable. Despite the urgency of the problem, there has been little public discussion of infant loss. The question this book takes up is not why babies die; we already have many answers to this question. It is, rather, who cares that babies, mostly but not only Black and Native American babies, are dying before their first birthdays? More importantly, what are we willing to do about it? This book tracks social and cultural dimensions of infant death through 58 alphabetical entries, from Absence to ZIP Code. It centers women’s loss and grief, while also drawing attention to dimensions of infant death not often examined. It is simultaneously a sociological study of infant death, an archive of loss and grief, and a clarion call for social change.

Genres: Nonfiction

270 pages, Paperback

Published March 18, 2022

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The maternal-infant mortality rates in the United States are atrocious. This book had large amounts of information regarding the topic and compassion for those families who have suffered the loss of an infant. It pulls away the veil on the dangers of pregnancy and labor in this country. The formatting of the book in an a-b-c manner, while meant to make it easier for the reader to find information, made it very repetitive in some cases for those reading the book from front to back instead of by subject interest from time to time. This is a hard read in subject matter but a necessary read. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for a digital ARC. This book was released on March 18.