Miracle Birth Stories of Very Premature Babies: Little Thumbs Up!

(Paperback)

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Parents of very premature infants, often shocked and panicked by the situation in which they find themselves, have until now had surprisingly few resources to consult. This text aims to remedy the situation. Written by a prize-winning journalist and father of a now-thriving micro-preemie, this testament to hope is filled with parents' stories of their preemies and micro-preemies, complete with details of their struggles in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), with harrowing series of life-threatening conditions, and with accounts of extraordinary delicate and risky surgical procedures. This book allows parents, through interviews, to "speak" directly to other parents about their common experiences with premature infants, and should proove valuable to navigating the NICU journey. While the book presents sobering medical facts in a straightforward manner, author Timothy Smith's intention is to show a different side of extreme prematurity than the one most often presented by the media. Rather than dwelling on the relatively infrequent cases that result in severe handicaps and family hardship, the author introduces the readers to many examples of the positive, more common outcomes of prematurity: children who have struggled valiantly and successfully, often against all odds, to join families that continue to cherish them. Heartwarming yet realistic, these stories aim to inspire even as they portray the families' attempts to cope with losing the typical birth experience, listening to insensitive remarks, going home without their babies, and communicating with medical professionals.

Reviews

"Mr. Smith's book is a wonderful resource for parents, one that is long overdue. I would recommend this book to every parent who has had a preemie or is anticipating a premature birth."-Elaine Sayers Chairperson, The Alexis Foundation for Premature Infants and Children

Author Bio

TIMOTHY SMITH is a veteran Michigan journalist and father of a micro-preemie daughter, Elizabeth./e After she was born in 1994, he wrote a number of acclaimed, award-winning newspaper articles about extreme prematurity.