Prematurity – Adjusting your Dream is a valuable book for parents with premature babies in the NICU and in the first weeks at home. Also very valuable resource for healthcare professionals.

Becoming a parent must be the single most exciting experience in the life of a mother and father. First-time moms and dads often tell of feelings of joy intermingled with the overwhelming awareness of responsibility and fear of failure. Preparation for the arrival of the newcomer to a family fills the months with expectation and wonder and excitement. The premature arrival of a baby is the least wanted and most feared event and represents a daunting experience with challenges that parents have little awareness or understanding of.

Prematurity – adjusting your dream’ was written and designed to guide parents on their journey of learning to understand and cope with the realities and challenges of having a premature baby. The skilful way in which the reader is introduced to the world of foetal development enhances understanding of prematurity and the implications of the premature birth of a baby. The aim of the ten chapters in the book is to empower parents. The information needed to:

• gain understanding of the contents and activities in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and its personnel,
• learn to understand and interact with their tiny baby, and cope with his/her needs: emotionally, physically and health related,
• learn to understand and cope with their own and each others’ emotions and needs is extensively addressed in a reader friendly and practical approach.

The book will not only serve as a guide to parents with a premature baby and their family, but undoubtedly also to practitioners, teachers and students of nursing and other health professions. The use of the narrative approach enhances understanding of the realities and humanness of the experiences to contend with, whether in a family or professional context. It is a well prepared, excellently illustrated addition to literature on health care.

Dr Wilma Kotzé

Professor Emeritus: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan

University
May 2008