Parenting Your Premature Baby and Child: The Emotional Journey

Rating:
Summary: Well-rounded and thorough compendium of vital information
Review: A 902-page compendium of information, Parenting Your Premature Baby And Child: The Emotional Journey by developmental psychologist Deborah L. Davis and clinical psychologist Mara Tesler Stein addresses dealing with powerful and painful emotions associated with being the parent of a premature child, physical recovery from difficult childbirth, forming bonds with one's baby when it must be kept in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), dealing with the difficulties of discharge, homecoming, and settling in, observing one's child for evidence of disabilities and coping with them, and also, how to deal with the loss of a child. Parenting Your Premature Baby And Child presents the wisdom of experts in no-nonsense terms for lay people and parents. An extensive index allows for quick reference, in this well-rounded and thorough compendium of vital information.


Rating:
Summary: Mother of a preemie and a professional
Review: As a professional, an instructor, and most importantly, the mother of a son born prematurely, I found this to be a remarkable book. Drs. Davis and Stein gently guide the reader through difficult emotions while simultaneously offering words of comfort, hope, healing and reassurance. For the parent in the midst of a NICU experience, the book's layout allows the reader to find the support she or he needs, without becoming overwhelmed with information she or he may not find useful or helpful to her or his particular crisis or triumph. As a mother, I found myself crying in recognition with many of the parent quotes. As a professional therapist, I have found a new resource to offer my clients. As an instructor, I will encourage students to add this work to their list of "must haves". I highly recommend this book for parents, grandparents, friends of the familes of premature infants as well as professionals interested in prematurity

Rating:
Summary: A book to read at your baby's bedside, and many years later
Review: As the mother of a daughter born three months prematurely (now 3 and 1/2) I find this book to be insightful, full of information, parents' stories and reflections, and true to many aspects of my experience. When my daughter was in the NICU, and during the earlier days at home, I yearned for such a book. It would have helped me cope with the complexity of the NICU and aftermath. I would have taken it to the NICU and read it by my daughter's bedside! Now, several years later, this book provides solace, perspective, and a way to process an intense experience with more information and comfort. I highly recommend this book to families and professionals interested in fostering a more human and informed approach to coping with prematurity.

Rating:
Summary: So comprehensive!
Review: Even for a seasoned neonatal nurse who now teaches about family centred developmentally supportive care this book offered insights. The authors are so respectful of the reader - they cover every possible related topic from every conceivable angle - what more is there left to say? An essential for every health professional working in this field.

Rating:
Summary: Really helped me and my husband
Review: I am very glad that I found this book. When you have a premature baby, you feel so alone. The stories from other parents in this book helped me share my grief, even if it was with people that I had never met in a book.

Rating:
Summary: A beautifully written, enormously helpful resource.
Review: I'm so grateful for this book! As a mom of two 29-week preemies, born 26-months apart and with unique medical crises and challenges, it was hard to find the emotional support and empathy I so desperately needed. My friends who were parents had enjoyed easy pregnancies and full-term deliveries, and even my own mother, who had had seven children of her own, had only experienced the happiness of healthy term newborns. I had no allies in the high-tech world of neonatal medicine in which I had been unexpectedly and forcefully thrust. My babies were extremely small and medically fragile, and my postpartum body and postpartum heart were at odds with one another. Each of my premature babies required intensive medical intervention to survive - I wasn't sure I knew how to connect with a baby that would certainly spend months in the NICU and that my fears told me may never come home. This book gave me the ability to see myself, not only where I began when the pregnancy became vulnerable, but when delivery and the months and even the years unfolded afterwards. The personal accounts and the supporting text provided a mirror to my own emotions. The validation and solidarity I felt as I ravenously read through each chapter gave me renewed courage to take one more step as a preemie parent. My babies had been given top-notch medical care in the NICU, but I needed care as well. This book cared for and understood my sense of loss, my sense of guilt, my sense of wonderment at my tiny babies. This book truly buoyed my belief that I could be an effective and loving mother - something I had always wanted to be - even though the onset of my role as a mom was so different than I could have ever imagined. I discovered through the authors' well-researched contributions as well as the candid thoughts of parents quoted in the book that there's no wrong way to feel as you make your way through the maze of parenting a premature baby. There are, however, countless right ways to connect and share love and joy, even among the fear and worry. That's a message every parent of a preemie needs to hear, and this book shares the message like no other resource I've found. Thanks again to the authors for their labor of love.

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended for anyone who loves a preemie.
Review: The premature birth of your child tosses you and your family into a whirlwind of emotions, where it seems you will never touch down. Preemie parents who have trekked this road before you can testify that the emotional journey of parenting a preemie can last the life time. This book is your guiding hand to the new land emotions and feelings that beset you in this remarkable experience.

You will find yourself referring back to it at each stage of your journey - from your time in the NICU, to coming home, seeking medical evaluations, and subsequent birthdays. An amazing 900 pages long (!) - it is chockful of helpful advice. Just look at a small sample of useful topics: Wanting to feel like a parent, meeting the challenges of breast-feeding in the NICU, the challenges of being informed, finding caregivers you can trust, the brain-behavior connection, balancing hopes and fears, and managing heightened vigilance. The authors thoughtful analysis and advice are backed by heart-felt quotes from experienced parents in the Preemie Child and Preemie-L support groups, which will surely touch your heart.

This is the most comprehensive resource on emotions related to parenting a preemie (or any child with special needs) that you will find. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a preemie.

Rating:
Summary: Parenting Your Premature Baby and Child
Review: This book is like no other preemie book out there, because it is about the emotional aspect of having and raising a preemie and it is told not only through the authors, but in the words of parents who have lived through this experience. I found it extremely valuable even though my preemies are now 12 years old. The book is over 900 pages but don't let that intimidate you, because you can't put it down once you start to read it and you can read it in chunks.



Rating:
Summary: A wonderful new resource for the parents healing
Review: This is a must have for parents of preemies. There is much to learn medically to care for them, but even more to learn for parents to cope. I have been raising a preemie for 8 years it is a welcome addition to my collection! In the pages you find companionship. The authors have been there,and it shows. The parent quotes bring a sense of belonging and the realization that others have survived and you can too. A wonderful book to buy for yourself if you have a preemie, or for friends or family to buy for others who have. Absolutely wonderful!

Rating:
Summary: what you need to know when you bring your preemie home
Review: This is an excellent book, with information on the everything you could possibly ask about caring for your preemie, even if it weighs more than my preemie did at birth! Drs. Stein and Davis have spent hours interviewing families of preemies and the real-life illustrations are wonderful ways to make our issues seem real and manageable!