Early: An Intimate History of Premature Birth and What It Teaches Us About Being Human

After giving birth at 28 weeks, food writer DiGregorio (Adventures in Slow Cooking) wanted to better understand her experience; the result is this compassionate exploration of preterm birth. Along with personal recollections of “the impossible, science-fiction smallness” of her one-pound, 13-ounce baby, DiGregorio describes the technologies, such as incubators and ventilators, that have improved survival rates for premature infants, and the improvements in care, such as a greater sensitivity to brain development, that have improved their quality of life. She also poses urgent, and as yet unresolved, questions, such as why African-American women have the highest rates of preterm birth, or at what point a preterm baby can still be considered viable—the latter question confronting parents with the agonizing choice between “active and comfort care.” Sensitively approaching the myriad practical and ethical challenges involved in caring for such fragile babies, DiGregorio gives vivid, individualized portraits of struggling parents, premature infants who developed into thriving children, and the specialists dedicated to helping them. Reassuringly emphasizing that most preterm babies develop into happy, fulfilled children, DiGregorio delivers a candid yet gentle work with appeal for prospective parents and anyone interested in “what premature birth [can] teach us about being human.” (Jan.)