Premature / NICU Babies (updated August 27, 2002)
(Underlined/highlighted books are available from the A Place To Remember www bookstore.)

A Fragile Beginning: Parenting Your Early Baby, 1993. Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis MN. Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. Going into premature labor is a scary and unnatural event. There is not a great deal of literature available about birthing and parenting a premature infant from a parent's perspective. The parents who wrote this book feel parents need to understand the normal feelings of this very frightening experience. This booklet covers the emotional journey from the birth to the first days of life with a premature baby.

Baby, Joseph A. Stirt, MD, 1992. New Horizon Press. An anesthesiologist talks about ethics and the emotional impact of the care of premature infants in the story of his own child who was born premature.

Baby Hands & Baby Feet: Poems and Drawings from the Nursery, Nancy J. Kennedy, 1995. Neonatal Network.

Baby Talk and Special Beginnings, Dale Hatcher and Kathy Lehman. Centering Corp., Omaha, NE. Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. Centering Corp has taken two of their wonderful booklets and now combined them into one! The first part of the booklet, Baby Talk, is a wonderful resource for all new parents of an NICU infant. It gives important information so that parent/child interactivity can be as strong as possible by focusing on the signals which the baby will send and what they mean. Discusses the six states of baby's awareness, invitation signals, time-out signals, and self-comforting signals. Authors Dale Hatcher and Kathleen Lehman accompany their text with black and white photos of baby's signals, so that they become more clear. The book also includes ways to help your baby grow and develop and a limited amount of space to keep notes and questions. The second part, Special Beginnings, has short vignettes which focus on "your baby," "your touch," and "your presence" as well as on feelings of guilt, fear, and anger. Also touches on the topic of relationships. Invaluable to NICU parents, it discusses states, listening to baby's body language.

Before Their Time: Lessons in Living from Those Born Too Soon, Daniel Taylor, Ronald R. Hoekstra, 2000. Intervarsity Press. From Booklist: English professor Taylor and Hoekstra, a physician at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, tell the stories of six infants born after only some 22 weeks' gestation, their parents, and the staff, primarily the nurses, of the neonatal intensive-care unit that treated them. Faith played a major role in dealing with the many crises of the infants' lives as well as in their parents' views of their children, their families, and their religions.

Believe in Katie Lynn, Bartholomew Resta, illustrated by Kitty Harvill, 1995. Eggman Publishing, Inc., Nashville TN. Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. A book for children and adults about a premature infant in the NICU about a Mommy who at first thinks that all she can do is watch Katie Lynn struggle for life.

Born Early—A Premature Baby's Story, Lida Lafferty and Nancy Flood, Photographs by Rebecca Young, 1998. Fairview Press, Minneapolis MN. Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. An award-winning book that gently tells the story of baby Carrie, from her premature birth to her homecoming. The authors explain the many medical procedures that take place in a neonatal intensive care unit and they include a glossary of terms and a bibliography.

Born Too Early: Special Care for Your Preterm Baby, Margaret E. Redshaw, Rodney Rivers (Contributor), Deborah Rosenblatt (Contributor), 1985. Oxford University Press.

Born Too Soon: The Story of Emily, Our Premature Baby, Elizabeth Mehren, 1998 (paperback). Kensington Publishing Corporation. With stunning candor, A poignant story of what the world of the NICU is like, and will help the preemie parent come to terms with the feelings that they are being bombarded with. Be aware that some people early in their NICU experience might find the unhappy ending disarming.

Breast Feeding Your Premature Baby, Gwen Gotsch, 1999. La Leche League Intl. LLLI proves once more breastfeeding is possible in the seemingly most impossible circumstances as . accomplished author Gwen Gotsch confronts the myths and explains the techniques of breastfeeding premature babies. This short book covers the basics: milk pumping and storage while baby is under intense observation in the hospital working with health professionals in the care of your newborn; supplementary feedings and ensuring baby's getting enough; first feedings at the breast; kangaroo care and myriad more topics the parents of premature babies need and want to know.

Care of the 24-25 Week Gestational Age Infant: Small Baby Protocol, Laurie Porter Gunderson, Carole Kenner, 1995. Neonatal Network.

Caring for Your NICU Baby, McCluskey, reprint edition 1996. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company.

Caring for Your NICU Baby, 17 minute video, 1994. Available from Childbirth Graphics (800) 299-3366, ext. 287. An instruction video to teach parents nurturing skills they need to take care of their baby at home. Included are feeding, fostering the sucking reflex, bathing, taking temperature, and proper us of a car seat.

Caring for Your Premature Baby: A Complete Resource for Parents, Alan H. Klein and Jill Alison Ganon, 1998. Harper Reference. Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. This book is especially for those parents who are unprepared for the puzzling emotions and medical complications that may follow an early delivery. Tells how to be an active participant in the NICU, helps you understand complicated medical treatments you may face, all the way to how to work with your health insurance provider to cover the ongoing care that your baby may need.

Coping With Your Premature Baby, Dr Penny Stanway, 1999. Trafalgar Square.

Core Curriculum for Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing, Jane Deacon (Editor), Patricia O'Neill (Editor), 1999. W B Saunders Co. Univ. of Colorado, Denver. Study guide in outline format for practicing nurses preparing for certification exams. A collaboration by AWHONN, AACN, and NANN. Previous edition: c1993. Includes a new chapter on thermoregulation. Each condition includes definition, etiology, pathophysiology, signs, tests, treatments, and outcomes.

Daddy: NICU. A Conversation With Fathers Of Intensive Care Infants,1988. Centering Corp., 1531 N. Saddle Creek Rd., Omaha, NE 68104-5064, (402) 553-1200. This book was an actual visit of NICU dads from an Iowa support group. Because of that, the book is a little disjointed, but it is straight-forward and honest in the reactions of fathers to the NICU experience. Some artwork by Shari Borum.

Developmental and Behavioral Characteristics of Preterm Infants, Lynn B. Hadley, Deborah West, Alison Turner, Sue Santangelo, 2000. Nicu Ink.

Early Passage: A Journal for Parents of Premies, Priscilla Hernandez Hacker, Carolyn Ringo, 2001. NICU Ink. An Amazon.com reader review: Giving birth to a premature baby is an experience that was often not expected, is overwhelming, and introduces parents to a whole new world of hospitals, procedures, and short and long-term complications for their infant. This journal provides parents with a place to structure all of the complicted and often overwhelming feelings brought up by having a premie baby. It highlights common experiences and provides signficant room for parents to journal in response to pertinent questions. It does a nice job of providing the necessary information and structure to help parents cope with their situation.

Exceptional Parent, magazine (800) 247-8080.

First Days: A Notebook for Parents of Infants Receiving Care in the NICU, Marion O'Brien and Kathleen McClusky-Fawcett, 1995. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Getting To Know Your Premature Baby From Head to Toe, 30 minute video, 1996. Available from Childbirth Graphics (800) 299-3366, ext. 287. A video with current, straight-forward information and important reassurance for parents of preemies. First is a description of NICU staff roles and functions followed by explanations of typical NICU equipment and monitors. Each section is interspersed with parents who share their experiences in the NICU. A positive tool.

Growing Sophia: The Story of a Premature Birth, Rochelle Barsuhn, 1996. A Place to Remember, 1885 University Ave., Suite 110, St. Paul MN 55104, (800) 631-0973. Over 45 vignettes such as Reality, Lungs, Affection, Patience, Guilt, Hope, Exhaustion, Dreams, Bad Advice, Pain, Privacy, Machines, and Apnea. The story chronicles the birth at 24 weeks of Sophia, as well as the emotional highs and lows faced by Rochelle and her husband, Scott. But this is much more than just one more personal tale. It will validate the feelings of every parent of a preemie, expose all of their anxieties, and let them know that everything they are going through is "normal." In addition to the story, there are a dozen pages of coping suggestions, a glossary with more than 60 terms, a bibliography and list of resources.

Handbook of Neonatal Intensive Care, Gerald B. Merenstein (Editor), Sandra L. Gardner (Editor), 2002. Mosby, Inc. This cornerstone neonatal handbook uniquely provides practical collaborative care of the critically ill neonate. Using a multidisciplinary team approach to care, it presents a combination of physiology and pathophysiology, application of these principles in clinical practice, and psychosocial aspects of care. This new edition features new chapters on pain and pain relief, and skin and skin care of the neonate. It is also thoroughly revised and updated.

Helping Low Birth Weight, Premature Babies: The Infant Health and Development Program, Ruth T. Gross (Editor), Donna Spiker (Editor), Christine W. Haynes (Editor), Christine W. Hayes (Editor), 1997. Stanford University Press. Book News, Inc. Thirty-three contributions describe the Infant Health and Development Program, a randomized controlled trial involving almost 1,000 infants in eight cities in the US. The program was administered by an interdisciplinary team composed of physicians, biostatisticians, child development specialists, and researchers from several disciplines. The text examines its research methodology, the progress of the program, and the results of the clinical trial. Arrangement is in five sections covering the IHDP clinical trial, the study results, studies of growth and development, operational issues, and cost analysis of the IHDP. -- Copyright © 1999 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR All rights reserved

Homecoming for Babies After the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery: A Guide for Parents in Supporting Baby's Early Development, K.A. Vandenberg and M.J. Hanson, 1993. Pro-Ed, Austin, TX.

Intensive Caring: New Hope For High-Risk Pregnancy, Diane Hales and Timothy R. Johnson, MD., 1990. Crown Publishers. In easy to understand language, "Intensive Caring" covers who is most at risk and everything from how to avoid premature labor to how to care for a high-risk infant. Also includes how to cope with the stress caused by a high-risk pregnancy.

Introduction to the NICU, McCluskey, 1994. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company.

Introduction to the NICU, 15 minute video, 1994. Available from Childbirth Graphics (800) 299-3366, ext. 287. Made to help ease the discomfort of the NICU parent and to reassure them that their baby is getting the best care. Introduces them to the staff, equipment and procedures used. Assures parents they need to take an active role in their child's care.

Kangaroo Care: The Best You Can Do to Help Your Preterm Infant, S.M. Ludington-Hoe and S.K. Golant, 1993. Bantam, New York, NY.

Living Miracles: Stories of Hope from Parents of Premature Babies, Editors Kimberly A. Powell, Kimberly A. Wilson, Kim Wilson, 2001. St Martins Press. Twenty-two engrossing stories of babies born prematurely, written by those who felt the agony and the elation the most--their parents. In painstaking and heartfelt detail, these parents share their ordeals: their fears, their joys, the stories of where they turned for help, their tips, and most importantly, their triumphs. Meet babies like: Samuel Warren, who was born at 1 pound 8 ounces when his mother went into preterm labor; Bo Smith, the miracle baby born at only 8 inches long after his mother suffered an antibody disorder; Sara Stromseth, born at 1 pound 15 ounces before modern advances in neonatology and given no chance of living to be the college student she is today; Ryan White, the ultimate proof that parents should never give up hope. Living Miracles includes a complete glossary of premature baby medical terms and is organized by the weeks of gestation of the baby at birth, from twenty-three to thirty-six.

Katie's Premature Brother, Elizabeth Hawkins Walsh, 1985. Centering Corp., Omaha, NE Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. For siblings of NICU babies, the artwork by artist Shari Borum and deals openly with the questions and concerns of a child: "She got mad at Mommy for talking so much to the nurses and for going to the hospital all the time." The book continues through Katie's first trip to the NICU to visit her baby brother. "Suddenly Katie knew how hard it is to wait... She couldn't wait until that special day when he would come home."

Miracle Birth Stories of Very Premature Babies: Little Thumbs Up!, Timothy Smith, George A. Little, 1999. Bergin & Garvey. This book is a compendium of stories, all dramatic, some at least in part heartbreaking but all offering hope in opposition to what Smith sees as the usual negative stories about premature birth... Each chapter tells of a different family and their struggles and triumphs.

My NICU Baby Book, Joy Johnson, editor, 1994. Centering Corp., Omaha, NE. Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. Since you can't go to a store and buy a baby book that measures blood gases or records the date your baby goes off the respirator, Centering Corporation developed one which includes basic information about the NICU as well as charts measuring baby's growth, lots of places to write out questions, journal feelings, record numbers you need to know, charts for feedings and any surgeries and tests that come along. The book is illustrated by artist Ruth Ferrara.

My Premature Baby Book, Kenitha R. Roberts, 2000. Reign~Bow Publishing. My Premature Baby Book is for parents of babies born prematurely. It enables parents to chart their baby's progress from birth through age five. Premature infants tend to remain in the hospital for a long period of time following birth, and this book addresses many of the issues that the parents face. There is ample writing room for parents to notate most aspects of the baby's development, and plenty of room for pictures.

My Preemie Brother. When an infant is born prematurely and must spend a period of time in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), siblings often are both frightened and confused about what's happening with the new baby. This 16-page coloring book is a wonderful way for children to hear or read the story about Jonathan's family and color the pictures as he tells about visiting the NICU, seeing all the tubes and machines, spending time in the hospital Sibling Center, and adjusting to becoming the best big brother ever.

My Special Start: A Guide for Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, B. Flushman, 1991. VORT Corporation, Palo Alto, CA.

Newborn Intensive Care: What Every Parent Needs to Know, Jeanette Zichkin, RNC, MN, 1996. NICU Ink, 1304 Southpoint Blvd., Suite 280, Petaluma, CA 94954-6861, (707) 762-2646. Seventeen individual chapters written by several different authors. Includes chapters such as "Working with the Team," "Neonatal Surgery," "Organizing Your Finances," to "Graduation Day," and "Gentle Good-byes."

No Bigger Than My Teddy Bear, Valerie Pankow. A book for siblings of a healthy preemie about the NICU experience. Talks about the machines and what actually happens in the NICU.

Nursing Your Premature Baby, Sarah Danner, CPNP, CNM, and the late Edward R. Cerutti, MD. Pamphlet. Based on extensive clinical experience, the authors assembled comprehensive information and suggestions for mothers who wish to breastfeed their special needs babies. Each booklet explains how a baby's condition can affect breastfeeding and gives specific suggestions for positions, breastfeeding techniques and aid that will help her to breastfeed her infant effectively.

Nutritional Care for High-Risk Newborns: The Classic "Red Book" for Neonatal Nurses, Sharon Groh-Wargo (Editor), Melody, M.S., R.D., L.D. Thompson (Editor), Janice Hovasi Cox, revised 3rd edition 2000. Bonus Books. Concise, yet comprehensive reference of neonatal nutrition data. For nutritionists, nurses, pharmacists, physicians, and others new to the field of neonatal nutrition. Includes a new chapter on issues such as nutrition screening, clinical pathways, and outcomes research. All chapters have been revised or rewritten.

Our New Baby Needs Special Help: A coloring book for families whose new baby has problems, Gail Klayman with illustrations by Shari Borum, 1996. Centering Corporation, Omaha, NE. Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. Along with pictures to color comes a story about a family whose new baby needs to stay in the hospital. The book deals honestly with the feelings that everyone has as stress and tension take their toll on each of the family members. "It's my fault our baby wasn't born just right... I didn't want to share my toys with anybody."

Parent-Baby Attachment in Premature Infants, J.A.; Richards, M.P.M. and Roberton, N.R.C. Davis, 1983. Palgrave Macmillan.

Parenting Your Premature Baby: A Complete Guide to Birth Postpartum Care and Early Childhood, Janine Jason, MD and Antonia Van der Meer, 1990. Delacorte Press.

Preemies: The Essential Guide for Parents of Premature Babies, Dana Wechsler Linden, Emma Trenti Paroli, M.D. Mia Wechsler Doron, 2000. Pocket Books. A "Dr. Spock"-like reference that is both reassuring and realistic, delivering up-to-the-minute information on medical care in a warm, caring, and engaging voice. Answers the dozens of questions that parents will have at every stage -- from high-risk pregnancy through preemie's hospitalization, to homecoming and the preschool years.

Premature Birth: A Family Survival Guide, Jo Clancy, Lmsw-Acp, 2002. Psychosocial Press.

Premature Infants and their Families: Developmental Interventions, M. Virginia Wyly, 1995. Singular Publishing Group, Inc., San Diego, CA.

Prematurely Yours: A Baby Book Designed Exclusively For The Preemie, Kim Bryant and Becky Meloan. Prematurely Yours, Lafayette, CO. Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. A hard cover, gift boxed book authored by neonatal nurses and with soft color illustrations. With 40 pages of space, parents have room to record the preemie's milestones during hospitalization and after discharge through six years of age.

Rosie and Tortoise, Margaret Wild (Illustrator), Ron Brooks (Illustrator), 1999. The sweet story of Rosie and Tortoise is perfect for any new big brother or sister Rosie can't wait for her baby brother to be born. But when he does arrive, Bobby is the smallest, weakest little hare ever, and Rosie feels scared. She doesn't want to have anything to do with him...until the day Dad tells her a special story that helps her understand that Bobby is "slow and steady." That night, she holds her bay brother for the first time and feels his heart beating against hers.

Saul, Rosemary Kay, 2000. St. Martin's Press. Amazon.com review: Rosemary Kay's unclassifiable book--equal parts novel, biography, and autobiography--is an imaginative first-person memoir of a premature baby's experiences in the neonatal intensive care unit of an English hospital. Saul, the author's son, was born after only 23 weeks' gestation, weighing just one pound, four ounces. Instead of being bundled into his loving mother's arms after delivery, he was consigned to a plastic incubator, with a ventilation tube running down his throat, heart monitors taped to his chest, and liquid nourishment dripping through an umbilical line. His chief experience of touch came every four hours, when blood had to be drawn, or when his tube was suctioned clean. Considering the events of his short life, Saul conceives of a new vocabulary to try to differentiate parts of the world that blur together for him: "This Living," for example, as distinct from life in the womb, or the place where he plays and talks with Grandaddy, long dead. Nurses are given names like "Clean Flowers" or "Nasty." The renaming helps establish that everything is new for the baby, although his use of language is otherwise advanced. After a medical emergency, when it was feared he might die, Saul describes his sense of being accompanied on his journey--and not only by "them," his parents. In the afterword, Kay explains that while her grief and regret remain, she still feels lucky to have known her son: "Saul taught me about death; he gave me an understanding that is intangible, inexplicable, a spiritual awareness."

Small Victories: Conversations About Prematurity, Disability, Vision Loss, and Success, Mary Lou Pierce-Dickerson, 2000. American Foundation for the Blind. Each year, approximately 400,000 babies are born prematurely in the United States. Little information exists to help parents deal with the challenges of having an infant with many medical needs and the resulting stresses they encounter. Small Victories offers a selection of interviews with indiviuals who were born prematurely and with parents of children who were born prematurely who discuss the many issues they faced. The book contains a detailed resource guide.

Special Beginnings, Joy and Marv Johnson, 1982. Centering Corp., Omaha, NE. Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. A booklet for parents whose infant is in an intensive care situation. Special Care: Medical Decisions at the Beginning of Life, Fred M. Frohock, 1986. University of Chicago Press. Explores the moral and legal issues in the NICU.

"Special Beginnings," 30 minutes VHS. Centering Corporation, Omaha, NE. Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. Centering spent a day in the NICU, asking parents what they would like to tell about the roller coaster emotions. They also talked to nurses and doctors to get their perspective on the care they will give to each NICU baby. It includes a good general overview of care that the staff will provide, plus it gives hope, encouragement, and validates the emotions that NICU parents will experience. Also gives some positive things parents can do to better survive this stressful experience.

The Baby Came Early: A Moving Account of the Premature Birth of Her Child, Jeannette Dewyze, 1986. Ben-Simon Publications.

The Baby Under 1000 G, David Harvey, Richard W.I. Cooke, Gillian A. Levitt, 1989. John Wright. From Book News, Inc.: Extremely premature babies now account for three to four per thousand of live births. Management experience of these infants needs to be pooled to improve the care rovided to them. The present volume provides a scientific, practical approach to the care of babies at the sharp end of the neonatal spectrum. Problems of those under 1000 g, rather than all preterm infants, are specifically addressed, and their management described: nursing as well as medical care, the involvement of other members of the family and the eventual outcome. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

The Lazarus Case, John D., MD Lantos, 2001. Johns Hopkins University Press. A gripping exploration of the legal and ethical dilemmas in neonatal intensive care - a truly original work. The book begins with a fictional malpractice case—an amalgam of typical cases in which Lantos appeared as an expert witness—and uses it as the
framework for addressing the ethical issues surrounding neonatal intensive care. Lantos draws on his experience in neonatal medicine, pediatrics, and medical ethics to
explore multiple ethical dilemmas through one poignant representative situation.

The Littlest Baby: A Handbook for Parents of Premature Children, Fred R. Pfister, Bernard Griesemer, 1983. Prentice Hall. An Amazon.com reader review: The head nurse in the ICU where my daughter had to spend 2 months because of premature birth gave me a copy of this book. It was a "loaner" from their library. It was the only thing that got me through the nightmare of my problems. Its compelling story and its information was what I needed in a world that had taken my baby away from me and didn't have time to explain why. It's a must for every parent who finds himself suddenly awash in the ocean an early arrival baby.

The Medically Fragile Infant, Marilyn Krajicek and Ron Tompkins, 1993. Pro Ed.

The Pain of Premature Parents: A Psychological Guide for Coping, M.T. Hynan, 1987. University Press of America, Lanham, MA.

The Peace of God : A Mother's Journal of God's Grace for Her and Her Family During a High-Risk Pregnancy and the Premature Birth of their Daughter, Sara J. Groenheide, 2000. Our House Publishing.

The Preemie Parents' Companion: The Essential Guide to Caring for Your Premature Baby in the Hospital, at Home, and Through the First Years, Susan L. Madden, 2000. Harvard Common Press. Consumer text discusses how to be informed partners with the healthcare team in the newborn intensive care unit, 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, Helen Harrison with Ann Kositsky. St. Martin's Press, New York, NY, 1983. Available from ICEA, (612) 854-8660. Extensive research in literature, with professionals, and parents, gives parents needed information on dealing with emotional, medical and practical issues after the birth of a premature baby.

Waiting for Baby Joe, Pat Lowery Collins with photography by Joan Whinham Dunn, 1990. Albert Whitman and Company, Niles, IL. Available from A Place to Remember, (800) 631-0973. This book for children follows the feelings of a little girl as she watches her family while they wait for Baby Joe to come home from the NICU.

Watching Bradley Grow: A Story About Premature Birth, Elizabeth Murphy-Melas, Diane Tate (Illustrator), Wendy Troyer, 1996. Longstreet Press. Shannon feels neglected because she can't visit her premature baby brother in the hospital and her parents seem to spend all their time with him.

What to Do When Your Baby Is Premature: A Parent's Handbook for Coping with High-Risk Pregnancy and Caring for the Preterm Infant, Sharon G. Hornfischer RN, Joseph A. Garcia-Prats, Sharon G. Hornfischer, Elizabeth Rapoport (Editor), 2000. Times Books. For families who find themselves coping with the myriad medical, emotional, financial, and mind-numbing decisions that follow a premature birth. A comprehensive and very personal guide that answers the tough questions...

When the Bough Breaks: Parental Perceptions of Ethical Decision-Making in NICU, Winifred Pinch, 2002. University Press of America.

You Are Not Alone: The NICU Experience, 1998. Children's Medical Ventures, Inc. Twenty stories of hope, heroism, heartache, and healing as told by the parents of children treated in the NICU. The book covers struggle, loss, feelings of loneliness and despair, and most of all avenues of support and comfort.

Your Premature Baby and Child: Helpful Answers and Advice for Parents, Amy E. Tracy, Dianne I. Maroney, Judy C. Bernbaum, Jessi Groothuis, 1999. Berkley Publishing Group. Billed as the "only comprehensive guide for the parents of Œpreemies'--from birth to the school years." It is an illustrated guide, written by medical professionals who are themselves mothers of premature infants. It even points out subtle developmental issues which might arise as school age approaches.

Your Premature Baby Comes Home, Paul Fleiss, MD, and Juliette M. Alsobrooks, 2001. McGraw Hill. Premature babies are more likely to have problems with growth and development that, if untreated, can result in physical and mental disabilities. This warm and compassionate book focuses on the things parents can do to help the child become happy and health and includes discussions on breast milk, skin-to-skin care (kangaroo care), lullabies, music, exercise and massage, and the detrimental effects of circumcision.

Your Premature Baby: Everything You Need to Know About the Childbirth, Treatment and Parenting of Premature Infants, Frank P. Manginello, MD and Theresa Fay DiGeronimo, MEd., 1991. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., NY. This guide to the problems faced by the parents of a premature infant covers issues both emotional and financial. Completely updated, the book offers the latest information on procedures, equipment, and medication, respiratory treatments, nutrition, follow-up therapies, and more. 15 photos. Contains information on topics such as micropreemies, multiple births, nutrition, diagnostic imaging, and ethical issues. Updated resources section has data on financial assistance, clothing, social services, support groups, and more.

Zero to Three, June/July, 1995, 15:6. Special issue devoted to premature infants and the NICU. A professional bulletin put out by the National Center for Clinical Infant Programs. By subscription, which can be obtained by contacting 2000 14th Street North, Suite 380, Arlington, VA 22201-2500, (703) 528-4300.