Early, Sarah DiGregorio
Early, Sarah DiGregorio
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Early
An Intimate History of Premature Birth and What It Teaches Us About Being Human

Author: Sarah DiGregorio

Narrator: Ann Marie Gideon

Unabridged: 9 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 01/28/2020


Synopsis

Inspired by the author’s harrowing experience giving birth to her premature daughter, a compelling and empathetic work that combines memoir with rigorous reporting to tell the story of neonatology—and to meditate on the questions raised by premature birth.The heart of many hospitals is the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). It is a place where humanity, ethics, and science collide in dramatic and deeply personal ways as parents, doctors, and nurses grapple with sometimes unanswerable questions: When does life begin? When and how should life end? And what does it mean to be human?Nearly twenty years ago, Dr. John D. Lantos wrote The Lazarus Case, a seminal work on ethical dilemmas in neonatology. He described the NICU as “a strong, strange, powerful place.” The NICU is a place made of stories—the stories of mothers and babies who spend days, weeks, and even months waiting to go home, and the dedicated clinicians who care for these tiny, developing humans. The book explores the evolution of neonatology and its breakthroughs—how modern medicine can be successful at saving infants at five and a half months gestation who weigh less than a pound, when only a few decades ago, there were essentially no treatments for premature babies.For the first time, Sarah DiGregorio tells the complete story of this science—and the many people it has touched. Weaving her own story, those of other parents, and NICU clinicians with deeply researched reporting, Early delves deep into the history and future of neonatology, one of the most boundary pushing medical disciplines: how it came to be, how it is evolving, and the political, cultural, and ethical issues that continue to arise in the face of dramatic scientific developments.Eye-opening and vital, Early uses premature birth as a lens to view our own humanity, and the humanity of those around us.

About Sarah DiGregorio

Sarah DiGregorio is the critically acclaimed author of Early: An Intimate History of Premature Birth and What it Teaches Us About Being Human and Taking Care: The Revolutionary Story of Nursing. She is a freelance journalist who has written on health care and other topics for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Slate, Insider, and Catapult. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her daughter and husband.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Allie on April 15, 2020

As a NICU RN for over 14 years, I found this book to be thought provoking and contained accurate NICU information. However, some chapters were so full of personal opinion and liberal bias, that it made it very difficult to want to continue to read at times. Good on the facts, bad on the politics.......more

Goodreads review by Ben on May 29, 2021

"An intimate history of premature birth and what it teaches us about being human" I learnt a lot and some of my knowledge and beliefs have meaningfully shifted......more

Goodreads review by Amanda on October 15, 2023

I read this book just after completing 6 weeks of NICU and healthy newborn nursery. I wish I would have read the book prior to my rotations. It started with the author's own experience as a NICU mom and then described the history of supporting premature babies. Other topics included ethical consider......more

Goodreads review by Richard I on June 25, 2020

Worth reading/listening to by parents of preemies as long as it’s been enough time since your baby’s birth. Not before. Good to hear the history and all the efforts of people who have worked to make preemies viable and survivable in the modern era. 3 Star reviews mean this was a solid book. I probabl......more

Goodreads review by k8 on November 23, 2024

i’m so happy this book exists. i was looking for some kind of deeper understanding both socially/emotionally and technically/medically while my son was admitted back in the hospital less than 2 weeks after discharging from the NICU. despite being surrounded by his village, it’s hard not to feel alon......more