Understanding the NICU: What Parents of Preemies and Other Hospitalized Newborns Need to Know

by Gary Weiner MD, Meera Meerkov MD (Editor), Gary M. Weiner (Editor)

When a newborn is admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), it can be frightening and overwhelming. Edited by two top NICU doctors and a veteran NICU nurse, this guide will support parents through their baby' s time in the NICU, helping them communicate with members of the NICU team, ask the right questions, and participate as valuable partners in their baby' s care.Understanding the NICU addresses such topics as common NICU equipment and tests, common medical problems for babies in the NICU, special health issues for preterm newborns, feeding and parenting in the NICU, and heading home from the NICU. This updated and fully revised edition also features new inspirational stories from parents of hospitalized newborns, bringing comfort and hope.

Genres: Nonfiction

584 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 18, 2023

Reviews

[Cristina Corrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I thought the book did a good job at what it aims to do. It does a really good job of explaining the medical terms of the NICU in plain terms that anyone can understand. Still I was disappointed at the representation of the families featured in the book. They were overwhelmingly white families, which is not the reality of most NICUs. Not enough people know about the disproportionate number of Black and Native American families that are affected by premature birth and other perinatal comorbidities and mortality. The book does not mention this or speak to the experiences of these families.

[giselle ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this honestly made me more scared and worried about things that I don’t need to be for my preemie. great info overall, but I had to take a step back and remember that I trust my child’s medical team (tho that might not be true for everyone).