I'm sorry for my loss : an urgent examination of reproductive care in America

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Title:

I'm sorry for my loss : an urgent examination of reproductive care in America

Author:

Little, Rebecca (Freelance writer), author.

Long, Colleen, author.

Summary:

"A must-read investigation of reproductive health under fire in post-Roe America. More than a million people lose a pregnancy each year, whether through miscarriage, stillbirth, or termination for medical reasons. For most, the experience often casts a shadow of isolation, shame, and blame. In the aftermath of the 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, twenty-five million people of childbearing age live in states with laws that restrict access to abortion, including for those who never wanted to end their pregnancies. How did we get here? Rebecca Little and Colleen Long, childhood friends who grew up to be journalists, both experienced late-term loss, and together they take an incisive, deeply reported look at the issue, working to shatter taboos that have made so many pregnant people feel ashamed and alone. They trace the experience of pregnancy loss and reproductive care from America's founding to the present day, exposing the deep impact made by a dangerous tangle of laws, politics, medicine, racism, and misogyny. Combining powerful personal narratives with exhaustive research, I'm Sorry for My Loss is a comprehensive examination on how pregnancy loss came to be so stigmatized and politicized, and why a system of more compassionate care is critical for everyone." -- Back cover

Contents:

Introduction -- Part I : How we got here -- There are no words : the inadequacy of the language for pregnancy loss -- How to make an American baby : the modern resonance of reproduction in earlier eras -- Hey, we might actually survive this : medical and social advances in pregnancy -- Modern miscarriage : how birth control, "choice," and home pregnancy tests transformed pregnancy loss -- The puppetry of the fetus : how images of the unborn redefined abortion and miscarriage -- Part II : Sick mothers -- Medical mystery : scientific uncertainty that comes from ignoring the right questions -- Nothing about this is simple : miscarriage, stillbirth, and other complications -- Sick and dying : how discrimination creates circumstances for pregnancy loss -- Part III : The legal morass -- How birthing bodies are regulated : the laws that increasingly govern pregnancy -- Politicians, restrictions, and laws, oh my! : the mess when we mix politics and medicine -- When pregnancy loss is a crime : the legal peril around the loss of a baby -- Life and death certificates : how a piece of paper came to define loss -- Part IV : The making of meaning -- The stories we tell : myths and narratives around pregnancy and loss -- Talismans : the growing market for objects that commemorate loss -- Mourning rituals : muddling through a way to grieve -- Afterword -- Appendix : Did you seriously just say that to me?

Physical Description:

xxxiii, 460 pages : illustration ; 24 cm

Genre:

Personal narratives.

Subject Term:

Fetal death -- Social aspects

Maternal health services

Pregnant women -- Health and hygiene.

Author(s):

Long, Colleen,

Publisher:

Sourcebooks,

Publication Date:

2024

ISBN:

9781728292755

9781728292786

Publication Information:

Naperville, Illinois : Sourcebooks, [2024]

Call Number:

618.3 LITTLE

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003759902	New Adult Nonfiction	618.3 LITTLE	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

Why is our culture so bad at dealing with pregnancy loss?

It's true that our society doesn't handle death or grief very well. But that lonely, helpless feeling that so many feel when they miscarry or lose a baby is not a coincidence. Something deeper and more systemic is going on here, formed by different pressures sliding like tectonic plates- politics, history, racism, misogyny, law, medicine-even the very words we use. For something that affects close to a million people every year, we should be better at talking about and supporting those who have experienced pregnancy loss.

This mess has serious consequences beyond making us feel lousy- death, sickness, and depression among them. But it has also contributed to a rising emphasis on the life and rights of the fetus over the mother and, ultimately, the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

I'm Sorry for My Loss is a surprising, enraging, and unusually witty effort to detangle this confusing societal knot. Rebecca Little and Colleen Long, childhood friends who grew up to be journalists, both experienced late-term loss, and together they take an incisive, deeply reported look at the issue, working to shatter taboos that have made so many pregnant people feel ashamed and alone.

Combining powerful personal narratives with exhaustive research into laws, culture, medicine, and history, I'm Sorry for My Loss is a comprehensive sociological take on how pregnancy loss came to be so stigmatized and why a system of more compassionate care is critical for everyone.

Author Notes

Rebecca Little (Author)
REBECCA LITTLE is a freelance journalist and a former contributing editor for Chicago Magazine. She lives in Park Ridge, Illinois. With over two decades of experience in the industry, they have established relationships with outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, NPR, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, MSNBC, and RadioLab, among others.

Colleen Long (Author)
COLLEEN LONG, a White House correspondent for The Associated Press whose work has appeared in every major news publication in the world, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2019. She lives in Washington DC.