Testing baby [electronic resource] : the transformation of newborn screening, parenting, and policy making / Rachel Grob.

9780813552026 (electronic book)
0813551358
0813551366
9780813551357
9780813551364

New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, c2011.

English

1 online resource (xi, 272 p.)

RJ255.5 .G76 2011eb

362.198/9201

Within forty-eight hours after birth, the heel of every baby in the United States has been pricked and the blood sent for compulsory screening to detect or rule out a large number of disorders. Newborn screening is expanding rapidly, fueled by the prospect of saving lives. Yet many lives are also changed by it in ways not yet recognized. Testing Baby is the first book to draw on parents' experiences with newborn screening in order to examine its far-reaching sociological consequences. Rachel Grob's cautionary tale also explores the powerful ways that parents' narratives have shaped this emotionally charged policy arena. Newborn screening occurs almost always without parents' consent and often without their knowledge or understanding, yet it has the power to alter such things as family dynamics at the household level, the context of parenting, the way we manage disease identity, and how parents' interests are understood and solicited in policy debates.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Access limited to authorized users.

Description based on print version record.

Critical issues in health and medicine

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