What Would Dr. Spock Say Today?
What Would Dr. Spock Say About the State of Babies Today? by Thomas Maier Babies are on our mind these days, for all the wrong reasons. It makes you wonder what America’s famous pediatrician, Dr. Benjamin Spock, who died 25 years ago today, would say to us now? Bad news about babies can be found everywhere. America’s birth rate is down nearly 20 percent since 2007, following more than a decade of economic woes, a deadly Covid pandemic and reports of declining sexual activity among adults. An even more drastic dropoff in fertility can be found in Western Europe and particularly China, where experts wonder if the world’s most populous country faces an irreversible decline without producing more children. The U.S. baby crisis goes far beyond last year’s nationwide shortage in baby formula, causing a panic among parents. Studies show Black infants are far more likely to die from childbirth than whites, regardless of family income. Birth defects still affect one of every 33 newborns, the
