Some of these titles are available in the Ronald McDonald Family Room.
American Academy of Pediatrics
NICU Journal: A Parent’s Journey
Parents of babies in the NICU will become more informed partners in care with this essential resource. This fully revised and updated spiral-bound journal provides educational content and a place for parents to record their baby’s progress. Parents are encouraged to track their baby’s condition and milestones week to week and to commemorate special moments along the way. The journal includes helpful information on common questions about the NICU, offers tips on coping, and provides helpful checklists. The interactive journal format will help parents stay organized and informed while in the NICU and will become a cherished keepsake as parents celebrate the day they take their baby home. Buy Book
Understanding the NICU: What Parents of Preemies and Other Hospitalized Newborns Need to Know
Understanding the NICU will guide parents through the NICU journey, help them communicate with members of the NICU team, and learn about their baby’s condition so that they can ask questions and participate as a valuable partner in their baby’s care. It will also provide them important information about how to care for their baby after they leave the hospital and head home with their little one. Included in the book are inspirational stories from parents who have had their own NICU experiences, bringing hope and comfort to other parents with an infant who is hospitalized. Buy Book
Medical Information and Practical Advice
Premature Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Premature Baby from Birth to Age One – Martha Sears, RN & William Sears, MD (Sears Parenting Library)
Bill and Martha Sears, a husband-and-wife, doctor-and-nurse team of pediatric experts, co-wrote this book on the essentials of premature births with their two oldest sons, Bob and Jim, who are pediatricians. The book is a complete guide to understanding why babies are born prematurely, what the complications of such births are and what parents can do about it. The authors address parenting a preemie in the hospital and at home, all the while providing a combination of statistics, question and answer sessions, and first-person notes from “Dr. Bob.” This book addresses medical questions, as well as parental frustrations and feelings of helplessness. Buy Book
The Preemie Parents’ Companion: The Essential Guide to Caring for Your Premature Baby in the Hospital, at Home, and Through the First Years – Susan Madden, MPH
The Preemie Parents’ Companion is a comprehensive guide for parents along every step of what is sure to be a journey full of challenges and rewards. Completely up-to-date and immensely reassuring, it covers: how to be informed partners with the healthcare team; coping with possible medical complications; ways to hold your preemie and how to interpret a preemie’s unique body language; special feeding and nutritional needs; extra protection that preemies need as they adjust to life at home; getting the most from follow up visits with your pediatrician and weight, height and other growth milestones. With real-life stories of parents of preemies, easy-to understand summaries of the latest research on preterm children, and a wealth of reliable day-by-day, month-by-month guidance. Buy Book
Preemies – Second Edition: The Essential Guide for Parents of Premature Babies – Dana Linden, Emma Paroli, & Mia Dorson, MD
The comprehensive “Dr. Spock”-like reference that is both reassuring and realistic—now updated to reflect the many advances in neonatology. Preemies, Second Edition is the only parents’ reference resource of its kind—delivering up-to-the-minute information on medical care in a warm, caring, and engaging voice. Authors Dana Wechsler Linden and Emma Trenti Paroli are parents who have “been there.” Together with neonatologist Mia Wechsler Doron, they answer the dozens of questions that parents will have at every stage—from high-risk pregnancy through preemie hospitalization, to homecoming and the preschool years—imparting a vast, detailed store of knowledge in clear language that all readers can understand. Buy Book
Intensive Parenting: Surviving the Emotional Journey through the NICU – Deborah Davis, PhD and Mara Tesler Stein, PsyD
Intensive Parenting explores the emotions of parenting in the neonatal intensive care unit(NICU), from in-hospital through issues and concerns after the child is home. Deborah L. Davis and Mara Tesler Stein describe and affirm the wide range of experiences and emotional reactions that occur in the NICU and offer strategies for parents coping with their baby’s condition and hospitalization. Buy Book
Early Arrival: 9 Things Parents Need to Know about Life in the ICU Nursery – Terri MajorKincade, MD, MPH
No parent wants to be in the intensive care nursery. It’s a frightening, often overwhelming place full of alarms, machines, doctors, and nurses—and, most terrifying of all, full of tiny babies fighting to survive. Parents who had planned to welcome their child home are faced with seeing that child weeks, maybe months earlier than planned, covered in a bewildering array of equipment keeping him or her alive. In such a situation, fear is understandable. In Early Arrival: 9 Things Parents Need to Know about Life in the ICU Nursery: A Doctor’s Step-by-Step Guide, neonatologist and NICU physician Dr. Terri Major-Kincade works to dispel some of that fear by providing knowledge about what to expect in the NICU. You may have missed your nine months with your early arrival, but you can use these nine steps to guide you the rest of the way. Buy Book
Preemie/NICU Parent Stories and Inspirational
Juniper: The Girl Who Was Born Too Soon – Kelley and Thomas French
Juniper French was born four months early, at 23 weeks’ gestation. Babies like Juniper, born at the edge of viability, trigger the question: Which is the greater act of love — to save her, or to let her go? Kelley and Thomas French chose to fight for Juniper’s life, and this is their incredible tale. In one exquisite memoir, the authors explore the border between what is possible and what is right. They marvel at the science that conceived and sustained their daughter and the love that made the difference. They probe the bond between a mother and a baby, between a husband and a wife. They trace the journey of their family from its fragile beginning to the miraculous survival of their now thriving daughter. Buy Book
Anchored: Finding Hope in the Unexpected – Kayla Aimee
Both poignant and humorous, Anchored recounts Kayla’s gripping story of learning to navigate her newfound motherhood in the most unexpected of ways, from holidays in the hospital and middle-of-the-night phone calls to the joy of coming home. With vulnerability and plenty of wit, Kayla lays bare her struggle to redefine her faith, her marriage, and herself within the context of a tragedy she never saw coming. For anyone who has felt their faith in God falter, Anchored extends a gentle invitation to join her as she uncovers a hope that holds. Buy Book
Girl in Glass: Dispatches from the Edge of Life – Deanna Fei
Girl in Glass is the riveting story of one child’s harrowing journey and a mother’s impassioned defense of human worth against corporate disregard. With luminous prose and an unflinching eye, Fei explores what it means to save a life: from the front lines of a neonatal intensive care unit to the perils of the American health-care system; from decades of medical innovation to the question of how we care for our most vulnerable; and finally, to the potent force of a child’s will to live. Above all, Girl in Glass is a testament to how love takes hold when a new life defies all expectations. Buy Book
Preemie Voices: Young Men and Women Born Very Prematurely Describe Their Lives, Challenges and Achievements – Saroj Saigal
The birth of a very premature baby is a shock for parents. The immediate anxiety about whether their infant will survive quickly leads to concerns about their child’s future quality of life. In this inspiring and informative book, young people who were born weighing less than two pounds, three ounces provide candid and personal stories about their lives, challenges and accomplishments. Now in their thirties, these men and women were cared for at McMaster University Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, soon after the introduction of newborn intensive care. Dr. Saroj Saigal, a renowned and awardwinning neonatologist at McMaster, adds several chapters that outline the history of neonatology, describes recent advances, and explains how many extremely premature babies go on to enjoy fulfilling lives. This unique collection of stories will not only provide encouragement and hope for parents who have given birth to a tiny preemie, but will inspire others who will be in awe at the achievements of these infants – both with and without disabilities – who were born too early. Buy Book
Once Upon a Preemie – Jenné Johns
Once Upon a Preemie is a short inspirational book written for parents whose children were born prematurely, and had a NICU stay. It is a beside companion to support parents who face the roller coaster ride of nurturing a preemie baby in the hospital until they go home. Buy Book
Good Things Come in Small Packages – Candy Campbell
Good Things Come in Small Packages (I Was A Preemie) is a delightful story of one little person’s journey of realization as he discovers his difficult beginnings, and the real meaning of love. Suitable for children ages 0-8. Please note: A portion of all sales will go to March of Dimes in grateful acknowledgment for their work with families of premature babies. Buy Book
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If you have found something helpful, that may be useful for other NICU parents or siblings, please email sepeeples@uams.edu and share!