Books
A variety of helpful books written specifically for families with premature babies.
For Those Who Hold the Littlest Hands: Information & Support for Parents of Babies in the NICU
Kirsti A. Dyer, MD, MS, FT
Physician, Author, Educator & Former NICU Parent
Breast Feeding Your Premature Baby
See it on Amazon.com®
by Gwen Gotsch
$6.95, 60 pages, La Leche League International, 1999
This short book covers the basics: milk pumping and storage while your baby is in the hospital; supplementary feedings and ensuring baby’s getting enough; kangaroo care and many more topics. Short on specifics but a good primer.
Preemies: The Essential Guide for Parents of Premature Babies
See it on Amazon.com®
by Dana Wechsler Linden, Emma Trenti Paroli & Mia Wechsler Doron M.D.
$24.95; 592 pages; Pocket Books, 2000
Dana Linden and Emma Paroli, both moms of preemies, joined forces with Mia Weschler Doron, a neonatologist, to produce the book they wish had been available when their children were in the NICU.
Kangaroo Care: The Best You Can Do To Help Your Preterm Infant
See it on Amazon.com®
by Susan M. Ludington-Hoe, Ph.D. with Susan K. Golant
$15.00, 44 pages, Bantam, 1993
The Preemie Parents’ Companion: The Essential Guide to Caring for Your Premature Baby in the Hospital, at Home, and Through the First Years
See it on Amazon.com®
by Susan L. Madden, M.S.; foreword by William Sears, M.D.
$16.95, 393 pages, Harvard Common Press, 2000
How to work with your child’s healthcare team in the NICU, coping with medical complications and their treatment, ways to hold a preemie, how to interpret a preemie’s body language, follow-up visits with the doctor, and more.
The Premature Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Premature Baby from Birth to Age One
(Sears Parenting Library)
See it on Amazon.com®
by James Sears, Martha Sears, Robert Sears & William Sears
$15.99, 256 pages; Little, Brown, 2004
The authors address parenting a preemie in the hospital and parenting a preemie at home, all the while providing an astute combination of statistics, Q&As and first-person notes from “Dr. Bob.”
Newborn Intensive Care: What Every Parent Needs to Know
See it on Amazon.com®
Edited by Jeanette Zaichkin
$16.78, 709 pages, American Academy of Pediatrics, Third Edition, 2009
An easy to understand and comprehensive book on prematurity and the care of your child in the NICU. The editor, a registered nurse with more than 20 years’ experience in the care of newborn babies, has pulled together the comments of a number of nurses to provide guidance for families of premature babies. The chapter on taking your baby home from the hospital (“Homeward Bound”) is particularly good.
