This Book Helps Black Moms Navigate Infant Loss

By Alexa Spencer | Word In Black (WIB) – “Why can’t you save my son?” Xaviera “Zay” Bell questioned every doctor at the University of North Carolina’s maternal ward the day she gave birth to her son, Xander. Most responded, “There is nothing that we can do.” A head nurse practitioner looked at her and said, “I know you want to be a mom, but this is not the way to do it.” RELATED: What to Do About Infant Mortality Born at 21 weeks and 6 days, Xander was an 11-inch micropreemie weighing 15 ounces. Doctors said if he lived, he could be deaf, blind, and unable to walk, but he was perfect to his mama.& & RELATED: Is Helping Black Moms Out Financially Unconstitutional? “‘A disabled child is worse than a dead child? Is that what you’re saying to me?’” Bell says she asked the nurse. She was forced to watch her son take his last breath on the first day of his life — April 25th, 2018.& A Need for Relatable Resources A day after Xander’s birth and death, Bell was sent home with a cardboard pastry box full of documents, including a “damaging” book about child loss....