This 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.
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.