Book Review: Before Their Time by Daniel Taylor and Ronald Hoekstra

Viability. Such a cold term for such a sad reality – that there is a point in a baby’s development before which he cannot survive outside the womb.

Medical advances have pushed the age of viability back further than ever imagined – but it still exists. Babies of a certain age can’t live outside their mothers.

The difficulty is, age of Viability isn’t a magic number. It’s a spectrum. Two babies born at just under 22 weeks have survived (according to Wikipedia) – but 0 out of a hundred babies born under 22 weeks will survive. At 23 weeks, about a quarter of the babies will survive – but most of these survivors will experience some level of disability due to their prematurity. Not until 24 weeks is the chance of living greater than the chance of dying.

For this reason, debate goes back and forth as to how much work to do, how much machinery to use , how much money to spend to try to save a child whose likelihood of living is miniscule.

Daniel Taylor and Ronald Hoekstra’s Before Their Time doesn’t try to debate age of viability or to argue for a standardized approach to caring for a preemie – but it does tell the story of six preemies born within the tenuous period of questionable viability. Four of the six were born at 23 weeks, while two – twins – were born at 25 weeks. In addition to being born with low viability, each of these children was cared for by Dr. Hoekstra, a neonatalogist, at Minneapolis’s Children’s Hospital and Clinic.

When I first started reading Before Their Time, I was impressed to learn that Dr. Hoekstra was a believer. I know what a comfort it is to have a believing doctor in a time of crisis.

When I was on bedrest, preparing to deliver a premature baby (although nowhere near as premature as the babies in this book), I asked to have a neonatalogist visit me in my hospital room to discuss what would happen after I delivered. One of the neonatalogists came by to answer my questions – many of which were about what to expect if my baby were born at a particular point in my pregnancy or another. The doctor explained the many variables that influence outcomes in a preemie, and then, nodding to the Bible sitting on my bedside table, said, “I see that you are a person of the Book. Pray. God is the one who ultimately determines what will happen.”

I had only minimal interactions with that doctor – another doctor cared for Tirzah Mae and we mostly got updates through one of the neonatal nurse practitioners. But just knowing that one of the doctors in the practice was a believer was a great encouragement.

As I read further, reading story after story of people of faith (some more in line with my own theological bent, some less), I realized that this was a Christian book. I finally got around to reading the back cover of the book (Yes, I selected it to read based solely on the title and the reality that it was a book my library owned about preemies) and discovered that the book was published by InterVarsity Press. That made so much sense.

Yet this isn’t a theological treatise, it isn’t even a book of “testimonies”. It’s stories. Honest stories about moms and dads making tough decisions. Doubting. Believing. Fearing. Rejoicing. Grieving. It’s about how tiny babies, with dozens of difficulties, affected their families, their communities. It’s about how families and communities affected tiny babies.

It’s beautiful.

I am so very glad that I read it.


Rating: 4 stars
Category: Stories of premature babies
Synopsis: The stories of six children born on the edge of viability – and the stories of their families, caregivers, and communities.
Recommendation: If the subject matter interests you at all, it’s definitely worth reading.


Book Review: Preemies by Dana Wechsler Linden, Emma Treti Paroli, and Mia Wachsler Doron

The books to return were already in the car and were already overdue when we had our visit to the midwife, so I had no choice but to return them to the library. I briefly contemplated just driving through the bookdrop – I had officially just been put on bedrest.

But I’d just been put on bedrest. I’d need some reading material. Specifically I wanted something on pre-eclampsia.

I returned the books, seated myself at the computer catalog, and only rose when I had Dewey Decimal numbers for all my books.

There were no books on preeclampsia, but one on preemies showed up under that search, so I figured I might as well see what that book had to say about preeclampsia.

Thus, I returned home with Linden, Paroli, and Doron’s Preemies. I didn’t start reading it right off, but when we were admitted to the hospital immediately after our OB appointment the next day, I requested that Daniel bring the book with him when he returned to the hospital.

Preemies turned out to be a really fantastic, comprehensive look at the struggles of premature babies and their parents. The chapters are arranged chronologically, from “In the Womb” to “The First Day” all the way to “From Preemie to Preschool (and Beyond)”. Each chapter begins with Parents’ Stories, then The Doctor’s Perspective, then Questions and Answers. Finally, the authors include a small section on special issues facing preemie multiples during that stage.

I read this book from cover to cover (except for the final chapter on losing a baby – I’m almost certain that chapter would have had me distraught) and found it to be a valuable resource for understanding what was happening with our Tirzah Mae (and thankfully, many complications that weren’t happening).

Of course, most mothers of preemies don’t have advance warning like I did – eight days of hospitalized bedrest during which I could read and prepare myself for the inevitable premature birth of our baby (even as we tried to keep her in the womb as long as possible.) Also, most mothers of preemies are presumably not quite as voracious readers as I am. But Preemies takes that into account, offering a comprehensive table of contents that includes each question to be addressed in the Q&A section of each chapter – thus allowing parents of preemies to easily find answers to their specific question without having to read through all 572 pages of this tome.

This book’s strong point is definitely the descriptions of the medical procedures and processes that take place in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) – It is not as good at detailing what happens or what to do after your infant comes home from the NICU. That said, I would still highly recommend this as a resource for parents of preemies in the NICU.


Rating: 4 stars
Category: Medical/Parenting
Synopsis: A comprehensive look at the various challenges faced by preemies and their parents, particularly during a stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Recommendation: Well-written, comprehensive, understandable descriptions of common medical procedures and complications. Recommended for parents of preemies currently in the NICU.