The Preemie Primer: A Complete Guide for Parents of Premature Babies--From Birth Through the Toddler Years and Beyond

by Jennifer Gunter

Having a premature baby--a baby born before the thirty-seventh week of pregnancy-- can be a crash course in both medicine and health economics, not just in parenting. Parents face complex information, difficult decisions, and overwhelming grief and worry--with challenges that often extend well beyond those early days and weeks. As an ob/gyn, Dr. Jennifer Gunter has delivered hundreds of premature babies, but as a mother of preemie triplets, she also understands the heartbreak and challenges of prematurity. The Preemie Primer is a comprehensive resource, covering topics from delivery, hospitalization, and preemie development to parenting multiples, handling health issues, and finding special-needs programs. Compassionate, engaging, and medically grounded, The Preemie Primer is the first book on prematurity to combine the insight of a doctor with the experience of a mom.

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, Medicine

Kindle Edition

First published June 29, 2010

Reviews

[Afton]

An excellent resource for learning about the whole preemie babies experience. Everything from what leads to premature birth to issues preemies face in the NICU (with very detailed descriptions of medical complications and procedures), where to get financial assistance, how to work with health insurance, caring for your preemie at home, and beyond.

If there was a college course on Preemie Babies this would probably be a great textbook for the class.

I recommend it to anyone who knows they are at great risk of having a preemie baby as a great overview of what to expect and how to prepare (however much of it will be scary and you never know what your preemie will experience so the medical issues might not be interesting or helpful yet). I recommend it as a resource for parents who are in the NICU with their preemie who want to find answers to particular issues (practical) that they are facing. I also recommend it to someone who had a preemie awhile ago and is now emotionally sound and wants to understand more of what happened and how to be better prepared for having another preemie.

I DO NOT recommend it to parents of preemies who are still in the NICU or just barely home who are in desperate need of emotional support, friendship, or understanding. Jennifer Gunter is an MD and she talks like a doctor. She's intelligent and direct. She gives you the statistics and probable outcomes of many medical processes and I think it would be way too frightening and heartless for someone just looking for hope and support.

It's a pretty intense read from start to finish, but to find answers and information about specific subjects it's an invaluable resource from a parent who has been there and a doctor who understands the medical world. Jennifer does share her own experiences frequently throughout the book, but I admit it was sometimes difficult for me to relate to her because of the advantages of her profession. I believe most parents are thrown into an entirely new world of medical terminology, procedures, and protocol, and that's one of the most frightening things about having a preemie.

Writing a book for parents of preemies is difficult because every parent faces a different challenge, has a different background, and needs a different type of support at every stage of their experience. I could not have made it through 80% of this book when I was still in the NICU with my baby, but 3 1/2 years later it was a very informative read and I feel like if I ever had to face having a preemie again I would be more prepared and more empowered by what I learned read The Preemie Primer.

[Davis]

I hope no one reading this review needs to read this book out of necessity. But for those who do, it's a good overview of what you should know with your preemie and being in the NICU. Hopefully it's more information than you need but a great reference material as questions inevitably come up. Very grateful to Dr. Gunter for compiling this info and presenting it in a compassionate and clear way. Lots of personal anecdotes included that I didn't know I needed to hear.

[RH Walters]

When I asked our doctor if we could expect any health problems as a result of our daughter being born prematurely and he said he couldn't see any reason why, I didn't think about it again for months after we brought her home. Later when I heard about problems that could occur, my stomach dropped. This book is written by a doctor who had premature triplets, one of whom died immediately, another required lung surgeries, and the other was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Despite the challenges, guilt and disappointment, Gunter writes with joy and gratitude about her strong, funny, lively sons. All the worst things happened and she, two of her sons, and her husband are okay. Nothing could have been more reassuring to read.

[Marisa]

the only book I downloaded after my son came 10 weeks early. Gunter is an OB/GYN, and also gave birth to premature triplets, so this book is an incredible mix of practical science, and empathetic knowledge. there's even a bit about self-care, which is already hard as a new mom, but made that much harder by the guilt you feel because you "failed" at being pregnant. I was prepared for every test my son had to endure by the time he got out of the NICU, and it's thanks to this book. the actual parenting is much harder, but having this made the medical side not as daunting.

[Anna]

"Preemie" encompasses a wide range of potential implications so this book had a lot to cover and it did a pretty good job of it. I enjoyed Dr. Gunter's personal anecdotes sprinkled in. Some of the stats were hard to read, and some of the complications. While this probably would've been more actually useful to me while my baby was still in the hospital I also suspect it would've been exceedingly difficult to read then. Actually, I'm certain I could not have read it then or even shortly after he came home. There are a lot of things that statistically could've gone wrong that didn't. There are still things that he's at higher risk of and it's helpful to know more about that, but also frightening.

[Helena Ivy]

I unexpectedly gave birth to my daughter extremely premature. I was a first time young single mom and terrified with what was to come, I wasn’t sure where to start or what to expect and this book provided me with alot of insight. It prepared me for a lot of difficult conversations and scary diagnoses. While it doesn’t go into depth with certain diseases it’s a great starting point that led me to more clinical/academic study’s regarding heart disease and hearing loss that my daughter suffers from. It’s been such a great help and I recommend this to any mothers with preemies.

[Andrea]

I read this book because I work in a NICU as a social worker and I wanted a better perspective as to what my families are going through and to improve my medical knowledge. It’s a great resource! Some information is dated or does not pertain to every NICU but I would definitely recommend this to anyone expecting, expecting an early delivery, or anyone who currently has a NICU baby!

[Beatriz]

I’ve read it after leaving NICU but I wish I had known about it before. It will help NICU parents loads to understand what’s going on.
It’s very focused on America so there are some chapters like the health insurance one that doesn’t apply to everyone.
But what a great resource!

[Shawn P Ploszay]

Excellent information

Excellent book. Great information. Really helped me be more prepared and feel more comfortable about my early C-section and NICU baby boy.

[HEichEL]

I enjoyed the personal stories the most & I would love a memoir of her pregnancy, birth & first few years.

[Janine P]

my first grand baby was a preemie! this book gave us lots of info!

[Deborah]

The Preemie Primer: A Complete Guide for Parents of Premature Babies--from Birth through the Toddler Years and Beyond is one amazing book. Dr. Jennifer Gunter brings truth based on facts and hope based on her own personal experience in a way that is easy to understand and appreciate in The Preemie Primer. In 2003 my husband and I had our daughter, Aria, who was born a micropreemie at only 25 weeks and 1 day. A birth like hers was not experienced before in either side of both our families so all of us were in this new journey together not really having any idea of what to expect. I have learned a lot of new things from reading The Preemie Primer as well as gained a better understanding of topics related to my daughter's NICU experience. I highly recommending The Preemie Primer to anyone that is considering pregnancy or is pregnant (high risk or not) or is in the preemie birth journey as I believe all the content in it is incredibly worth having as a resource.

[Leony]

The book is a must-have for all preemie parents. I wish the book released earlier by then I would probably wont be so clueless about pregnancy complications and NICU. The book covered everything from pregnancy complications, NICU, premature babies problem and growth and a lot more. I cried and a few times reading the book. Reminded me with how tough NICU was for me even though my little girl didn't have any major problem when she was born but still it was difficult time for me. I would be checking out the book again for personal guide and reference.

[Lacey]

This book was really helpful and full of great information. I loved hearing the authors stories and struggles with her own boys. It made me cry and laugh. If you know you are going to be having a premature baby, or just had one, this book will help you to get informed on different hospital procedures, and help you process all your emotions.

[Jennifer]

This is a well written book by a physician that experienced pre term babies. Her preemies were much earlier than ours so some of the items in this book were not relative to our experience but I found it very useful to read while our babies were in the NICU.

[Amy]

Wushu had read this during our time in the NICU; was hoping for more information once they are home though.

[Rebecca Wood]

Out of all the preemie books I've read... This one was the most helpful. It was written by a doctor that has had preemies. I wish I would have found it earlier in my preemie's journey.

[Lisa Long]

Fantastic read for anyone who finds themself in the NICU or if you have a family member there. Very informative and helpful.

[Beth]

Readable yet pretty complete. Seemed to be good preparation and information for less than ideal outcomes. Much less rosy perspective than Sears.