Babylost

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

By Monica J. Casper

Rutgers University Press

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 twofold: 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.

Clio Talks: Babylost: An Interview with Monica Casper by Lauren Freidenfelds Nursing Clio

This book contains entries that are robust in their exploration of intersecting concerns around infant mortality. It is important, timely, and innovative. Dána-Ain Davis, Author of Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth

This is a moving, beautiful book. The composite effect is stunning, both an indictment of systemic racism and sexism, and a tender offering to those touched by baby loss... The text seamlessly weaves between the personal and the sociological, and is very accessible while also being nuanced and not sacrificing complexity. Annie Menzel, Assistant professor of gender and women's studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison

This book contains entries that are robust in their exploration of intersecting concerns around infant mortality. It is important, timely, and innovative. Dána-Ain Davis, Author of Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth

Clio Talks: Babylost: An Interview with Monica Casper by Lauren Freidenfelds Nursing Clio

I finished reading Casper’s work feeling activated and refreshed to continue the important work of safely propagating our species and supporting the people courageous enough to venture on the journey to parenthood regardless of pregnancy outcomes. Because inherently embedded in Casper’s work is the notion that regardless of race, ethnicity, religiosity, spiritualism, creed, sexual, gender or other orientation/identity, a society that is unable to shepherd its newest citizens to this plane and protect them in their first years of life should alarm us all and should require the attention of everyone. If ‘‘the arc of moral justice is long, but bends toward justice,’’ as Martin Luther King stated, then we need to decide where on that trajectory we can act and then do so. The calls to action as well as the summary of historical data in Babylost should motivate us all to act in the face of need. Contemporary Sociology

MONICA J. CASPER is the dean of the College of Arts and Letters at San Diego State University in California. She is the author of The Making of the Unborn Patient (Rutgers University Press).

Introduction

Absence
Abuse
Angel Babies
Awareness

Babyland
Black Infant Mortality
Blame
Breastfeeding

Children’s Rights
CIA World Factbook
Congressional Black Caucus
Cuba

Dads
Deprivation
Disability
Doulas

Emptiness
Envy
Epigenetics

Folic acid
Fracking
Frankenstein

Grief
Guilt

Hope

Infant Mortality Rate
Infanticide

Japan

Kangaroo Care