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Twenty-Four Plus Six
“Never before had I felt so acutely desperate to comfort one of my children, and never had I felt so useless, so restricted and unable to act.”
This is the story of a baby who becomes a morphine addict before she’s even due to be born; a tale of medicalised motherhood, littered with cannulas, feeding tubes and surgery consent forms.
When Amy Brett's baby girl is unexpectedly born only twenty-four weeks and six days into her pregnancy, and is immediately rushed to intensive care, Amy and her family are thrown onto the most terrifying rollercoaster ride of their lives.
Amy’s account of her journey through neonatal care is loaded with impossible choices and heart-wrenching moral dilemmas. It is stark evidence of the need for greater compassion, sensitivity and family integration in the neonatal setting. Yet, it is also a love story between a mother and her child who defies the odds time after time; a heartfelt testimony to the courage and endurance of the human spirit in the face of adversity, and living proof of our capacity for infinite hope in the darkest of times.
This is the story of a baby who becomes a morphine addict before she’s even due to be born; a tale of medicalised motherhood, littered with cannulas, feeding tubes and surgery consent forms.
When Amy Brett's baby girl is unexpectedly born only twenty-four weeks and six days into her pregnancy, and is immediately rushed to intensive care, Amy and her family are thrown onto the most terrifying rollercoaster ride of their lives.
Amy’s account of her journey through neonatal care is loaded with impossible choices and heart-wrenching moral dilemmas. It is stark evidence of the need for greater compassion, sensitivity and family integration in the neonatal setting. Yet, it is also a love story between a mother and her child who defies the odds time after time; a heartfelt testimony to the courage and endurance of the human spirit in the face of adversity, and living proof of our capacity for infinite hope in the darkest of times.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 24, 2023
14 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Amy Brett
1 book2 followersAmy is a non-fiction writer based in South London where she lives with her husband and two daughters. She's publishing her memoir, Twenty-four Plus Six, with Cranthorpe Millner. Her book tells the story of the terrifying roller-coaster ride she was suddenly flung onto when her baby arrived only twenty-four weeks and six days into her pregnancy, and was immediately rushed to intensive care.
Amy has written for the Early Birth Association and Bliss. Her Blog, Life of a Preemie Mum, draws upon her Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge, tackling difficult ethical, moral and social questions about prematurity. Her posts discuss the crazy, terrifying, heart-wrenching parenting moments that life becomes filled with when you become a mum to a premature baby (preemie).
In 2020, Amy helped her eldest daughter write a children’s book called My Very Little Sister and the Very Big Story. It’s now available across the UK for the 100,000 families whose babies are admitted to neonatal care each year.
Before giving up paid work to look after her children full time, Amy established a charity in Peru and went on to hold several leadership roles in UK charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support and Victim Support, where she was Head of Volunteering.
Amy has written for the Early Birth Association and Bliss. Her Blog, Life of a Preemie Mum, draws upon her Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge, tackling difficult ethical, moral and social questions about prematurity. Her posts discuss the crazy, terrifying, heart-wrenching parenting moments that life becomes filled with when you become a mum to a premature baby (preemie).
In 2020, Amy helped her eldest daughter write a children’s book called My Very Little Sister and the Very Big Story. It’s now available across the UK for the 100,000 families whose babies are admitted to neonatal care each year.
Before giving up paid work to look after her children full time, Amy established a charity in Peru and went on to hold several leadership roles in UK charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support and Victim Support, where she was Head of Volunteering.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 25, 2023
I honestly am having a hard time organizing my thoughts in order to write a review. Immediately drawn in by the cover, this book was an intimate look at the journey of one mother during her hellish time in the NICU with her twenty four week/six day born baby. It has always been my greatest fear to have to deliver my baby early and submit my child to the prison arms of doctors and nurses. Not being able to be the decision making factor solely for my child. Amy lived my nightmare.
...I can't help but tear up picturing myself walking through the parking lot of the local children's hospital to pick up three four pound babies. Not for my birth children, but for triplets born addicted at thirty weeks gestation. This book felt so personal to me in so many ways. The babies I now look at six months later were so lucky. Only spending one month in the NICU. (All of which, I didnt even know they existed or that I would become their caregiver) Within that 8-5 day I spent there, I was so glad to leave by the end of it. The bullying of the doctors, the stares of the nurses, the lack of parents visiting their children. Yes, there are some great doctors and nurses out there, but unfortunately they are the minority. Unfortunately, families are not given the love and support that they so desperately need. That one day changed me profoundly.
I cannot imagine living through this experience for five months.
I appreciated the honesty with which Amy wrote. I also enjoyed the quotes at the beginning of each chapter and the recommended reading in the afterward.
Health care providers should read this book. Parents should read this book. Providing the machinery and medicine to keep babies' hearts beating is not enough.
We are losing our compassion in this busy world. This book loudly reminds us to think about others and consider our actions and the consequences that they have on others. Advocate for the vulnerable.
"When you've walked all the way to the edge of the canyon and teetered on the edge, a hair's breadth away from hurtling into a bottomless chasm, you can't go back. When you've witnessed infants writhe and recoil in pain day after day for months, you can't go back. When you've come face to face with death, smelt its stench, felt its chill, held its calloused, bony hands, you can't ever go back. "
Thank you to NetGalley for the privilege of reading this book.
...I can't help but tear up picturing myself walking through the parking lot of the local children's hospital to pick up three four pound babies. Not for my birth children, but for triplets born addicted at thirty weeks gestation. This book felt so personal to me in so many ways. The babies I now look at six months later were so lucky. Only spending one month in the NICU. (All of which, I didnt even know they existed or that I would become their caregiver) Within that 8-5 day I spent there, I was so glad to leave by the end of it. The bullying of the doctors, the stares of the nurses, the lack of parents visiting their children. Yes, there are some great doctors and nurses out there, but unfortunately they are the minority. Unfortunately, families are not given the love and support that they so desperately need. That one day changed me profoundly.
I cannot imagine living through this experience for five months.
I appreciated the honesty with which Amy wrote. I also enjoyed the quotes at the beginning of each chapter and the recommended reading in the afterward.
Health care providers should read this book. Parents should read this book. Providing the machinery and medicine to keep babies' hearts beating is not enough.
We are losing our compassion in this busy world. This book loudly reminds us to think about others and consider our actions and the consequences that they have on others. Advocate for the vulnerable.
"When you've walked all the way to the edge of the canyon and teetered on the edge, a hair's breadth away from hurtling into a bottomless chasm, you can't go back. When you've witnessed infants writhe and recoil in pain day after day for months, you can't go back. When you've come face to face with death, smelt its stench, felt its chill, held its calloused, bony hands, you can't ever go back. "
Thank you to NetGalley for the privilege of reading this book.
November 7, 2024
I have finished this book so quickly. I can definitely say that this is a page turner and it kept me wanting to read and finish this in one seating. However, I am still processing how I felt after finishing this book. I feel it’s difficult for me to articulate my emotions finishing this book. Amy has written this book from her POV with her own truth and how she felt during the whole experience in the NICU. It reminds me of the quote Maya Angelou has written - “ I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” The family definitely endured a difficult ordeal. Provision of psychological support would have helped. A holistic approach should have been done. Did Amy get any psychological support from her midwives? What kind of support mums get from their primary care when their babies need to go to the NICU? Level 3 NICUs are very busy and the priority is to look after the babies. I do agree that the communication could have been better but the chapters focused a lot on what went wrong. For other parents, you won’t have the same journey as Amy’s but there’s a lot to learn from her experience for parents and medical staff. Thank you, Amy for sharing your journey.
November 2, 2023
Amy writes with astounding – and at points uncomfortable – clarity about a time when most would not be able to tie their shoe laces. There is a whole new level of strength to be found in premmie mamas and from my perspective, it is wonderfully exampled within this book. I remember reading a quote that went something like ‘’After no other major abdominal surgery would you be given a new born to care for and tend to” with regard to a caesarean section. I think a new quote could be coined from this booking surrounding no new mother being expected to be parted from her new born.
I found that I read this book with two heads: First as the mother of a 2lb warrior baby. The NICU journey of any family is so resoundingly unique and individual, yet it is profoundly similar in the most jarring of ways. That lethal mix of grief, hope and confusion, all mixed in with the most odd societal expectations and a medical background - I was supremely glad to read of the fabulous support network the Brett’s had. Amy’s writing transported me back in time to the point where I could almost hear the beeps and the muffled way my ears coped with trotted out phrases from every mouth around. I hugged my daughter tighter after each reading session; never can my gratitude for our outcome ever be downplayed.
From a charity perspective, this story and the division in care provided to patients and their families is so important to be heard. I believe this book, along with others, will be instrumental in bringing about the change so desperately needed to give consistent and fair care across the NHS. The nurses and doctors on a NICU are the ones that should be relied on to give this and it is sad that this is a failing so often heard. The Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Trust already stock Lily’s book for siblings to help them understand that they are not alone in their big feelings about very little siblings. It’s my sincere opinion that Amy’s book should be reading material for staff so they gain valuable insight to the life of a parent. May the publication of Twenty-four plus Six be shared far and wide.
I found that I read this book with two heads: First as the mother of a 2lb warrior baby. The NICU journey of any family is so resoundingly unique and individual, yet it is profoundly similar in the most jarring of ways. That lethal mix of grief, hope and confusion, all mixed in with the most odd societal expectations and a medical background - I was supremely glad to read of the fabulous support network the Brett’s had. Amy’s writing transported me back in time to the point where I could almost hear the beeps and the muffled way my ears coped with trotted out phrases from every mouth around. I hugged my daughter tighter after each reading session; never can my gratitude for our outcome ever be downplayed.
From a charity perspective, this story and the division in care provided to patients and their families is so important to be heard. I believe this book, along with others, will be instrumental in bringing about the change so desperately needed to give consistent and fair care across the NHS. The nurses and doctors on a NICU are the ones that should be relied on to give this and it is sad that this is a failing so often heard. The Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Trust already stock Lily’s book for siblings to help them understand that they are not alone in their big feelings about very little siblings. It’s my sincere opinion that Amy’s book should be reading material for staff so they gain valuable insight to the life of a parent. May the publication of Twenty-four plus Six be shared far and wide.
November 9, 2023
Twenty-four plus six – Amy Brett
This insightful, harrowing and emotionally raw book is a ‘must read’ for all those working within the NICU. It’s a journey of highs and lows through the eyes of a mother not knowing if her baby girl will survive, trying to navigate her way through all the experiences a mother shouldn’t have to go through.
As a NICU mother myself, this book was sometimes like reading my own story, by some twist of fate both our babies were discharged in November 2019 and so our babies were struggling for life at the same time, which makes Amy’s story so poignant for me.
Do we name our baby? Does she feel pain? Would she be better off dead? These are some of the questions we ask on a daily basis. We struggle with the guilt of not holding, touching, cuddling and feeding our babies…Will this affect her in later life? What if all these machines and drugs affect her health? What will the future hold for her and for us as a family? The questions keep on coming, but there aren’t any answers, it’s a day by day, hour by hour struggle to get to the next test result and speak to the next member of staff. Normal life goes out the window and you’re left in a world of pain that you walk through feeling completely alone.
How lucky we are to have our babies’ home! This is how we should feel, but discharge comes with its’ own problems, how does anyone begin to process the trauma? Talking helps, seeing her grow and flourish helps even more. Mentally though, it’s tough. I can still hear the beeps of the machines, I still want to call the doctor every time she falls over, and I know that every NICU parent out there will live with the effects for a very long time.
Thank you so much for writing this incredible book Amy, and for highlighting how amazing our NHS is for being able to save our babies every day. To have staff that can communicate and empathise with parents in the most stressful and painful times in their lives, can make all the difference.
December 26, 2023
This raw and honest memoir written by a micro preemie mother provides insight into the complex journey a family faces when having a premature birth away from home.
Torn between home life and the hospital, this emotional rollercoaster is one that resembles many journeys of NICU life with the added difficulties of having a child at home. The fact that this patient had to switch between multiple hospitals along the way just added to the tension and anxiety of it all.
As parents to two preemies and a full term NICU baby, we completely related to the emotional strife this family experienced and can understand how much it turns your world upside down. We especially appreciated the author’s honesty in sharing her inner thoughts and feelings throughout the book and how she addresses the challenges of having to advocate for your child when miscommunication and disagreement occurs.
This is a must read for healthcare workers to be aware of the ongoing need to bridge the gap between providers and patients’ families.
Torn between home life and the hospital, this emotional rollercoaster is one that resembles many journeys of NICU life with the added difficulties of having a child at home. The fact that this patient had to switch between multiple hospitals along the way just added to the tension and anxiety of it all.
As parents to two preemies and a full term NICU baby, we completely related to the emotional strife this family experienced and can understand how much it turns your world upside down. We especially appreciated the author’s honesty in sharing her inner thoughts and feelings throughout the book and how she addresses the challenges of having to advocate for your child when miscommunication and disagreement occurs.
This is a must read for healthcare workers to be aware of the ongoing need to bridge the gap between providers and patients’ families.
October 26, 2023
Twenty-Four Plus Six is an essential read for any parent, not just those of premature babies. As a father of twins born at twenty-seven weeks, I related to so much of this story. Amy brings the struggles, emotions and hardship of life in a neonatal unit to life through her stark yet beautiful words. It’s a celebration not just of childbirth, but one of resilience, strength and an unbreakable family bond. At times, this breathless account reads with the page-turning power of a fiction thriller, yet it remains firmly grounded in a real world that is still relatively unknown. It’s a raw, emotional account of one of life’s toughest journeys; not just for premature and sick babies, but for their parents and families.
May 4, 2024
I originally was drawn to this book because I am interested in the nursing profession; specifically neonatal care and labor and delivery.
Amy's story allowed me insight into what kind of nurses and doctors are out there, as well as the impact a nurse's attitude, devotion, and kindness can have on a patient's hospital stay. It made me further realize the great responsibilities nurses and doctors have; one slipup, one careless mistake could be fatal or injuring to a patient. A nurse's job goes far beyond nursing; they must be a friend and a listener to their patients. They must have good social skills and a compassionate spirit.
This was truly a helpful book for me, giving me insight into the nursing world.
Amy's story allowed me insight into what kind of nurses and doctors are out there, as well as the impact a nurse's attitude, devotion, and kindness can have on a patient's hospital stay. It made me further realize the great responsibilities nurses and doctors have; one slipup, one careless mistake could be fatal or injuring to a patient. A nurse's job goes far beyond nursing; they must be a friend and a listener to their patients. They must have good social skills and a compassionate spirit.
This was truly a helpful book for me, giving me insight into the nursing world.
October 31, 2023
I loved this book - it is such a raw, heartfelt and deeply personal account of Amy’s journey through NICU. I think it’s rare that an author writes so openly about their experience, sharing not only the publicly acceptable feelings but also those that some would judge or criticise. That’s what makes this book so powerful - Amy normalises the full spectrum of emotions and brings to life with searing honesty the impact the experience had on her and her family. It’s a must read for anyone interested in how we can put families at the centre of neonatal care and anyone interested in the reality of having your tiny baby’s life in someone else’s hands.
March 9, 2025
"Prematurity is more than a birth story: it's a life story - not just for preemies, but for parents too." Thank you, Amy for giving words to the experiences of so many families of premature babies. Your vulnerability in sharing your deepest thoughts and feelings with the reader was incredibly brave and appreciated, and I was able to see myself and my family in so much of your family's journey through the NICU. From one micro preemie mom to another, well done!
November 10, 2023
This is a brave and searing account of the challenges faced by the whole family when a little one comes into the world prematurely. An incredibly powerful book that I couldn’t put down, it deserves to be read not only by all those connected to neonatal care but much more widely.
November 10, 2023
I rarely read something so powerful, moving, heartfelt and poignant. It is a book that everyone (parent or not) can learn from. A story of courage, strength, darkness and hope.
April 20, 2024
Informative and relevant to NICU life
Nice to have a story to relate to my experience while having a child in the NICU. Although I'm in the US, it was still relevant.
Nice to have a story to relate to my experience while having a child in the NICU. Although I'm in the US, it was still relevant.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews