Book Review: Why Are Our Babies Dying? Pregnancy, Birth and Death in America

Abstract

is well known to sociologists and public health professionals that infant mortality rates among people of colour in some parts of the US are similar to those in developing countries. Based on the author’s involvement over many years with the Syracuse Healthy Start program, the book provides a thorough examination of factors that contribute to high rates of infant mortality and negative birth outcomes among young women of colour. Using the conceptual framework of structural violence theory, Lane provides overwhelming evidence of the role of socio-economic risk factors as predictors of infant mortality. In examining the role of factors associated with negative birth outcomes and infant mortality among women of colour, as opposed to that of personal responsibility, the author leans heavily on social and environmental factors to explain disparities in these public health indicators. This detailed case study of the Syracuse inner-city population underscores the role of socio-economic risk factors as generalizable determinants of infant mortality throughout the country and, in some respects, globally as well. The book also provides an example of the unintended and often undesirable effects of social and environmental restructuring programs such as urban renewal. Lane uses the ecosystem approach to illustrate the impact of a host of social and environmental conditions on the health and well-being of affected communities at large and on specific healthBook Review Why Are Our Babies Dying? Pregnancy, Birth and Death in America