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llwatts's review
I highly recommend this book and it's very informative and interesting. I did not finish it as I started a different book as part of a book club and had to turn this book back into the library and just never got back to it, though I may finish it in the future!
heylaurita's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
This was a FANTASTIC deep-dive into all things NICU. Anecdotally, DiGregorio delivers an incredibly vivid and emotionally gripping retelling of her own experience in the NICU. From a medical standpoint, she provides a brief overview (and history!) of the major tools and devices used in NICUs today. She even delves into the history of the NICU and pulls the curtain back on how caring for the tiniest of humans came to be. As a former NICU nurse of almost 10 years, I appreciated it all.
As a current APN that has gone on to care for these premies well beyond their NICU days, I was incredibly impressed with the second part of the book, which detailed the challenges of developmental follow-up care and the long-term challenges that accompany the more complex cases. I also really enjoyed the heavier discussions of ethics and maternal health care disparities that impact pre-, peri-, and postnatal care. To have omitted these more controversial sections would have wildly distorted the conversation surrounding preterm delivery and medical care today.
Ultimately, the NICU is an incredibly specialized subset of a hospital - one which is often intimidating to others, given its inherently diminutive nature. The day to day experiences were conveyed so accurately and with such reverence, it took my breath away at times. This book was so well researched that I would recommend it anybody looking to enter the NICU world clinically, as well as to anybody who may be interested in hearing a differing (albeit challenging) point of view. Would advise caution for anybody who has experienced the NICU first-hand, as it may trigger some difficult moments.
mountainoddity's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
carleyguill's review against another edition
5.0
This book matters. Perhaps more than any other book that I’ve read. As a nurse and sister to a NICU survivor I’ve heard shouting from both sides - any life is a good life, no life is good if it’s like this. Often, these aren’t opinions grounded in science, how could they be? Neonatology is so raw, so vague. A world of subjectivity that no other sect of medicine exists within. For DiGregorio to have written a book encompassing every possible opinion and still root it in research, personal testimony from survivors and providers, and still have made it rich with optimism? Astounding. Perspective is a gift. This book offers it so freely to readers that it feels almost stolen.
Public health, bioethics, familial instinct, medical history, all compounded into one overarching narrative. Medicine can do nothing for premature birth without love. Thank you Sarah DiGregorio. I’ll treasure this forever.
Public health, bioethics, familial instinct, medical history, all compounded into one overarching narrative. Medicine can do nothing for premature birth without love. Thank you Sarah DiGregorio. I’ll treasure this forever.
richardiporter's review against another edition
3.0
Worth reading/listening to by parents of preemies as long as it’s been enough time since your baby’s birth.
Not before. Good to hear the history and all the efforts of people who have worked to make preemies viable and survivable in the modern era.
3 Star reviews mean this was a solid book. I probably won’t read it again but I could. I may recommend it to people interested in this sort of topic. No argument from me if you love this book.
Not before. Good to hear the history and all the efforts of people who have worked to make preemies viable and survivable in the modern era.
3 Star reviews mean this was a solid book. I probably won’t read it again but I could. I may recommend it to people interested in this sort of topic. No argument from me if you love this book.