BABY ER : The Heroic Doctors and Nurses Who Perform Medicine's Tiniest Miracles

Rating:
Summary: An amazing book!
Review: "Baby ER" is an incredibly dramatic story of hope, fear, miracles, and joy. For parents like myself who have experienced this situation, it will be like revisiting an unforgettable time in our lives. For those who have had the wondrous luck of never having walked in those particular shoes, it is an eye-opening account of a world known to a few. I appreciated the fact that Humes drew from his own first-hand knowledge of what the parents go through during this stressful time. In documenting the stories of three different families during their stays from the critical first hours of life to the unforgettable conclusions, he tells each story with sensitivity and compassion, as a father who has been there should. This is an outstanding book that should be shared with anyone going through this situation, and with every doctor, nurse, and other health-care professional who might be connected with the care of children.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing book!
Review: "Baby ER" is an incredibly dramatic story of hope, fear, miracles, and joy. For parents like myself who have experienced this situation, it will be like revisiting an unforgettable time in our lives. For those who have had the wondrous luck of never having walked in those particular shoes, it is an eye-opening account of a world known to a few. I appreciated the fact that Humes drew from his own first-hand knowledge of what the parents go through during this stressful time. In documenting the stories of three different families during their stays from the critical first hours of life to the unforgettable conclusions, he tells each story with sensitivity and compassion, as a father who has been there should. This is an outstanding book that should be shared with anyone going through this situation, and with every doctor, nurse, and other health-care professional who might be connected with the care of children.

Rating:
Summary: Welcome to My World
Review: As the mother of a multi-handicapped child, it's difficult to describe to others the roller coaster of our daily lives. This book captures it all, the doctors, nurses, therapists, parents, and always the babies. Impossible to put down as you follow the infants ups and downs, learning the history, politics, and management of the modern NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). This should earn Edward Humes another Pulitizer. I'm buying it as a present for my own daughter's neonatologist/pediatrician.

Rating:
Summary: Brillant and touching
Review: Edward Humes, a master of the English language and journalist reporting, has triumphed again with a nonfiction acount of life in a neonatal ward that somehow suceeds in being both charming and devastating. This book is a winner for anyone will compassion and/or intellect.

Rating:
Summary: Captures the NICU experience
Review: I came across this book by chance and could not believe that its setting was the NICU where my child spent his first 3 months of life. Humes did a craftsman's job of capturing the intensity of the experience for the parents of premature infants. He also weaves into his narrative the history of neonatology and the pressures placed on the doctors by our current health care mess. Very interesting (as was his previous book on juvenile justice).

Rating:
Summary: I agree with Oprah -- a great read
Review: I found this book after seeing it mentioned on Oprah. Wow. What an amazingly touching and fascinating look at the brave new world of having babies. She just has a way of finding the books that are full of heart.

Rating:
Summary: Baby ER ...love it!
Review: My girlfriend is studying to be a NNP and she is quite tired of reading textbooks. Baby E.R. has reminded her of why she is putting up w/ the difficulties of school. This would be a great book for anyone going into neonatalogy.

Rating:
Summary: Keep the Kleenex close by!
Review: Once you have started the emotional roller-coaster ride with these families and their sick children you cannot stop and put the book down. You are there...right there in the NICU with these families. Your stomach is churning and your heart is breaking as if it is your child that you are looking at through the glass, unable to hold or even touch. From genetic disorders, to drug abuse in expectant mothers, to no explanation... it just happens... you feel the days turning into what seems like a lifetime for these parents(and in some cases literally is a lifetime). The author pulls you in and does not let you go until you have experienced every set-back and milestone imaginable in a newborn's life. Because of the dedication of the doctors and nurses who go above and beyond and their remarkable ability to save these precious lives, you are left feeling hopeful, having shed a lot of tears, but smiling throughout. Read this book and the next hug you give your own child...Oh, what a feeling and a gift!

Rating:
Summary: Must Read!!
Review: This book is a must read for those of us who are NICU nurses, and those that are interested in this area. I have been a nurse in the NICU for merely a year, and this book helped ne answer alot of questions. The author does a wonderful job of explaining, and his sections on the history of neonatology were enlightening and frightening at the same time. I would highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: All I Can Say Is Wow!
Review: This book is a roller coaster--a fascinating and really touching story that actually shows the human side of a big-city hospital. I think every parent would want to read this.