Understanding baby loss: The sociology of life, death and post-mortem [Hardcover]

This book offers a detailed and sensitive account of how parents experience different forms of baby loss, and subsequently make decisions about post-mortem examination. It also analyses some of the challenges professionals face when working in this highly sensitive field of medicine. It draws on data from an ESRC award-winning UK based study on the development of minimally invasive post-mortem to examine a range of sociologically pertinent issues relating to: trauma emotions, decisions, care technology memory and the role of social and biological relationships. By shedding light on this taboo aspect of healthcare, the book provides a highly original contribution to sociology, offering a comprehensive analysis of some of the most pressing concerns in the field to date.GBThis book offers an in-depth sociological analysis of parent and professional experience of baby loss, examining the role that post-mortem can play in the wider context of bereavement.

Kate Reed is a Professor of Medical Sociology at the University of Sheffield
Julie Ellis is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Health and Illness at the University of Huddersfield
Elspeth Whitby is a Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield

Understanding baby lossoffers an extraordinary ethnographic exploration of the sensitive subject of baby loss and post-mortem. The book combines an in-depth sociological analysis of clinical and technological aspects of the post-mortem process with detailed understandings of parent and professional feelings, emotions and care practices. Throughout the book, the authors show that post-mortem is not just a scientific or clinical examination but, rather, forms a key part of the bereavement process. The book offers a comprehensive and thoughtful account of how parents experience different forms of baby loss, and subsequently make decisions about post-mortem examination. It also analyses some of the challenges professionals face when workinlƒ-