학술논문
2 Decisions
Document Type
Book
Author
Source
Understanding baby loss: The sociology of life, death and post-mortem. :44-65
Subject
Language
Abstract
Women’s rights to make decisions over their reproductive health have been central to feminist debates over several decades. When a serious fetal anomaly is diagnosed in late pregnancy, women are often expected to make choices over whether to terminate. Parents and professionals are also faced with difficult decisions around when to resuscitate babies or end neonatal life support. In the event of losing a baby, parents are also suddenly faced with making a range of difficult decisions including whether to consent to a post-mortem. This chapter focuses on exploring the difficult and often urgent decisions parents must make after they lose a baby, and seeks to extend existing sociological thinking on reproductive choice and decision-making.
This book provides a sociological exploration of baby loss, analysing parents’ and professionals’ experiences of life, death and post-mortem. The book offers a concise introduction to the sociological literature around miscarriage, late fetal loss, stillbirth and sudden infant death. It also introduces the reader to existing ethnographic research on post-mortem practice. The book comprises seven substantive chapters, each exploring various aspects of the baby loss journey. It begins with an analysis of the trauma and shock parents initially experience when they lose a baby. It then moves on to introduce the topic of post-mortem practice, focusing first on the issue of parental decision-making. Each subsequent chapter focuses on different sociologically pertinent issues relating to post-mortem practice, including the role of technology, emotions, hidden care practices and memory-making. The final substantive chapter situates the experience of baby loss and post-mortem examination within the broader context of debates on biological and social relationships. As will be shown throughout the book, while baby loss occurs to individual mothers and fathers, both parental and professional experience of this loss are profoundly shaped and mediated by the social. The conclusion reflects, therefore, on the classic sociological relationship between the individual and society. It also reflects on the theory and method used throughout the research, highlighting both the value and challenge of conducting sociological research on sensitive topics.
This book provides a sociological exploration of baby loss, analysing parents’ and professionals’ experiences of life, death and post-mortem. The book offers a concise introduction to the sociological literature around miscarriage, late fetal loss, stillbirth and sudden infant death. It also introduces the reader to existing ethnographic research on post-mortem practice. The book comprises seven substantive chapters, each exploring various aspects of the baby loss journey. It begins with an analysis of the trauma and shock parents initially experience when they lose a baby. It then moves on to introduce the topic of post-mortem practice, focusing first on the issue of parental decision-making. Each subsequent chapter focuses on different sociologically pertinent issues relating to post-mortem practice, including the role of technology, emotions, hidden care practices and memory-making. The final substantive chapter situates the experience of baby loss and post-mortem examination within the broader context of debates on biological and social relationships. As will be shown throughout the book, while baby loss occurs to individual mothers and fathers, both parental and professional experience of this loss are profoundly shaped and mediated by the social. The conclusion reflects, therefore, on the classic sociological relationship between the individual and society. It also reflects on the theory and method used throughout the research, highlighting both the value and challenge of conducting sociological research on sensitive topics.