Almost Home: Stories of Hope and the Human Spirit in the Neonatal ICU Book

Birth, like death, can be a messy affair. Though we all wish for beautful, healthy nine pound babies, we know that isn't always the case. Premature births pose all sorts of problems that present medical and moral dilemas for doctors, nurses, interns and parents, as well as for the little babies struggling to live, to fill their little lungs with life's breath or get their hearts pumping blood through their little bodies.

Some of the babies whose stories are recounted in ALMOST HOME make it all the way home, others do not, but the stories collected here simply must be told. Some are unbelievably sad, and you will cry when you read them; others tell of babies who survived and did well against seemingly impossible odds; still others are embarrassing, as Dr. Gleason chronicles her tentative early years as a doctor-on-training. Taken together, however, the stories celebrate the miracles of modern medicine, mourn its failings, and marvel at the strength and resilience of the human body and spirit so evident in these little babies, their families, and the dedicated people who staff the intensive care units.

ALMOST HOME is a remarkable debut book, the power of which lies in its abiding humanity and its intensely personal portrayal of the often fragile beginnings of a human life.

Kathy Arsenault - Library Journal

In 16 chapters focusing on 16 premature infants she has cared for during her career, Gleason (chief of neonatology, Univ. of Washington & Seattle Children's Hosp.) conveys some of the serious complications of many premature births, the emotional costs to both parents and medical personnel, and the expanding possibilities of neonatal care over the past 20 years. Almost always, these stories have happy endings. Some hard questions are not explored, including the enormous costs of weeks or months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the lifestyle choices that raise the risks of prematurity, and the long-term outcomes for babies born too early. Gleason also doesn't provide practical information for parents with premature infants; Dana Wechsler Linden and others' Preemies: The Essential Guide for Parents of Premature Babies is a well-regarded source for this. Gleason's title is an engaging, feel-good book about a remarkable woman's career in medicine and the exhilaration of saving young lives against almost impossible odds. For larger libraries.