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Baby ER
A portrait of life in the neonatal ICU at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center offers an inside look at the doctors, nurses, patients, and parents who live, work, and survive in this dramatic setting.
295 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
9 people are currently reading
457 people want to read
About the author
Edward Humes
21 books282 followersEdward Humes is a Southern California author, journalist and writing teacher whose most recent nonfiction book is “The Forever Witness.” His next book, “Total Garbage: How to Fix Our Waste and Heal Our World,” will be published in time for Earth Day 2024. He shares his home office with a pair of rescued racing greyhounds, Valiant and Dottie.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 11, 2019
Of all the different branches of medicine working in the NICU must be both the most heart-breaking and most rewarding. I think it takes a special kind of courage to want to work with tiny babies and their very anxious parents knowing quite often that no matter what you do, the outcome is unlikely to be good, but you try anyway.
Most babies will not survive, those that do most will have problems physical or mental, some of these problems will be extreme. Some, such as intellectual challenges might not show themselves for years. I can understand the parents wanting their baby saved at any cost, and thinking that their baby will be the exception, they will 'get better'. But the doctors and nurses know otherwise. I wonder if they ever think why do they put so much effort into trying to save a baby's life when their will be very little quality to it, and maybe very little time too?
Most babies will not survive, those that do most will have problems physical or mental, some of these problems will be extreme. Some, such as intellectual challenges might not show themselves for years. I can understand the parents wanting their baby saved at any cost, and thinking that their baby will be the exception, they will 'get better'. But the doctors and nurses know otherwise. I wonder if they ever think why do they put so much effort into trying to save a baby's life when their will be very little quality to it, and maybe very little time too?
September 13, 2010
This book really grabs you and takes you into the tiny, fragile lives of about six or eight babies, born too early to be healthy and "normal". After having Enoch in the NICU for four months, I found this book profoundly moving. I am SO grateful to the doctors and nurses who helped Enoch to "make it". This is a great read!
December 7, 2022
I expected to love this book. I love books by doctors about doctoring, and I spent time in an NICU in 1976 with my premature twins. At 10 weeks early and 1500 grams each, they were borderline viable then; one needed minimal treatment, and the other had some trouble but pulled through fine. Now, and 22 years ago when this book was published, they would be considered giant, and new treatments would have made things much easier. The NICU, then as now, was a highly specialized place with lots of cutting-edge technology. Being a parent there was one of the most intensely emotional extended experiences of my life. This book conveys that experience, and the emotional experience of the people who work there as well.
However, I did not love the book. It was written by a journalist, not a doctor. I got the feeling he was looking for the next topic to write about, and chose this one, rather than choosing it from any love or deep involvement. He chose a hospital in Long Beach, CA, and spent a year shadowing and/or interviewing various personnel and a few parents. He included a history of how premature babies were treated in the Western world in the last few centuries, the story of the structural evolution of the NICU in this hospital, and the interpersonal politics of the staff. I've read the history before, and I didn't care much about the doctors' group that was making their money by contracting with the hospital, as the NICU was not financially exactly part of the hospital. I suppose it's relevant to our problems with the health care system in this country, but it's also over 20 years outdated now.
What I wanted was the stories of the parents and babies. Th author focused on maybe a dozen families, with only short references to any others. He followed those babies, and I found all of that interesting, but it was frustrating when he zoomed back out to hospital operation, etc. In Part III, about the last third of the book, he comes back to all the families and babies - the experience of being in the NICU -and this part redeemed the book for me. But not enough for more than three stars.
However, I did not love the book. It was written by a journalist, not a doctor. I got the feeling he was looking for the next topic to write about, and chose this one, rather than choosing it from any love or deep involvement. He chose a hospital in Long Beach, CA, and spent a year shadowing and/or interviewing various personnel and a few parents. He included a history of how premature babies were treated in the Western world in the last few centuries, the story of the structural evolution of the NICU in this hospital, and the interpersonal politics of the staff. I've read the history before, and I didn't care much about the doctors' group that was making their money by contracting with the hospital, as the NICU was not financially exactly part of the hospital. I suppose it's relevant to our problems with the health care system in this country, but it's also over 20 years outdated now.
What I wanted was the stories of the parents and babies. Th author focused on maybe a dozen families, with only short references to any others. He followed those babies, and I found all of that interesting, but it was frustrating when he zoomed back out to hospital operation, etc. In Part III, about the last third of the book, he comes back to all the families and babies - the experience of being in the NICU -and this part redeemed the book for me. But not enough for more than three stars.
January 8, 2019
This is a look inside the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and how the tiniest babies are cared for on a daily basis. The book follows 11 different babies and their families with their struggle to get their little ones home. The stories vary from parents who had a full term infant and something happened during the birth that landed them in the NICU, to babies who are born drug addicted because their mom's used while they were pregnant. The babies have good days, and bad, and it is a constant roller coaster to get them healthy and home.
This was a great book. I am a pediatric nurse, and there have been many occasions that my patients were preemies to start out their life. Some preemies go on to never have another problem, and some have life long challenges. Reading this book and hearing the parent's views of what it is like to have a baby that small, and the nurses/doctor's views on how it is to keep them alive was intense. Some babies were less than a pound at birth, and yet went home. Others were close to full term infants, but had too many health problems, and died.
Check out this book. IT is a little technical, but not overly so. I found that it spoke more of the families and the care of the babies than medical terms 90% of the time. Even though it was written 15 years ago - and medical miracles have come just that much further in saving these little babies - it still gives you an idea of just how far we have come in keeping them alive.
This was a great book. I am a pediatric nurse, and there have been many occasions that my patients were preemies to start out their life. Some preemies go on to never have another problem, and some have life long challenges. Reading this book and hearing the parent's views of what it is like to have a baby that small, and the nurses/doctor's views on how it is to keep them alive was intense. Some babies were less than a pound at birth, and yet went home. Others were close to full term infants, but had too many health problems, and died.
Check out this book. IT is a little technical, but not overly so. I found that it spoke more of the families and the care of the babies than medical terms 90% of the time. Even though it was written 15 years ago - and medical miracles have come just that much further in saving these little babies - it still gives you an idea of just how far we have come in keeping them alive.
March 5, 2011
Great book about NICU in southern California. Gives some fascinating history about how premature baby care developed in France near the turn of the 20th century when the government was concerned about the high infant mortality rate and the declining birthrate. An entire generation was decimated by the Franco-Prussian war and a new supply of canon fodder would be needed.
In 1896 the first incubator was put on display with live babies at the World Exposition in Berlin. It was a big hit and became a permanent display at places like Coney Island for the next four decades.
There are many shocking stories of modern times such as the way an addict can destroy her baby in utero and is not held accountable by law, and the rapid rise in multiple births due to the unscrupulous practice of implanting so many eggs at once.
CDC = complete blood count, # white & red cells, platelets etc.
I highly recommend this book to anyone. Except anyone who's pregnant!
In 1896 the first incubator was put on display with live babies at the World Exposition in Berlin. It was a big hit and became a permanent display at places like Coney Island for the next four decades.
There are many shocking stories of modern times such as the way an addict can destroy her baby in utero and is not held accountable by law, and the rapid rise in multiple births due to the unscrupulous practice of implanting so many eggs at once.
CDC = complete blood count, # white & red cells, platelets etc.
I highly recommend this book to anyone. Except anyone who's pregnant!
September 7, 2008
A mix of stories is presented as the author spends some time in a NICU, but the neonatologists and nurses are all glowingly portrayed. It would have been nice to get a more balanced view of the NICU staff, but one can't really argue with the premise that they're doing amazing things with babies that only a couple of decades ago wouldn't have been considered viable.
March 16, 2016
Babies. Tiny babies. Babies small enough to fit in your hand. Babies born to cocaine-using mothers. Babies born suddenly, too soon for the mother to schedule an abortion. Babies born in multiples, all too small. Intermingled with the stories of all the tiny babies are the stories of the doctors who work on the babies and of neonatalogy itself.
September 29, 2018
This was a good book and pretty informative on the history and current workings of neonatal care. It was educational even to me a lay person.
July 1, 2018
Pretty spot on despite being dated.
March 14, 2020
I love hospital stories. I love babies! So I loved this book. 4.5 stars
November 10, 2022
Captivating. Question-raising, but informative.
September 13, 2024
Informative! Not a drag to read.
May 15, 2012
This book perfectly captures the NICU experience. I sobbed several times a I read this because Humes described the highs and lows so succinctly. I highly recommend this book for families that are or will be facing NICU time. I think it would be especially helpful for extended family members trying to understand what preemie parents are going through.
December 30, 2009
really good about an amazing place and people. Humes has written other good books as well.
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April 21, 2013. Excellent I enjoyed this book and the in-depth care that these children require. I am happy that my children were healthy
August 21, 2012
Loved this book - could hardly put it down!
May 26, 2016
Too outdated to be relevant in 2016
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews