Preemie Care: A Guide to Navigating the First Year with Your Premature Baby

An essential resource for parents of premature babies.

The birth of a new baby is a time full of joy and wonder. But when your baby is born premature, that joy also comes with stresses and challenges.

Written for parents, but full of practical advice for health care professionals alike, Preemie Care helps ease the unique preemie journey to health, with a comprehensive guide to the first year of life. Leading neonatal nurse specialists Karen Lasby and Tammy Sherrow draw on their decades of experience, empowering you with the knowledge and resources to give your little one the best possible start in life—in the NICU and beyond.

In Preemie Care, you will learn:
• How to care for yourself and your baby while in the NICU
• What to expect at the time of discharge, and how to prepare for the journey home
• Strategies to foster your baby's health and prevent illness
• Everything you need to know about feeding—from the breast, bottle, tube, and spoon
• How to support and stimulate your baby at each key developmental phase
• Tips for self-care during this challenging year
• And much, much more, including stories from other preemie parents

Having a premature baby can feel like an unexpected journey on rough seas. With extensive and up-to-date information about how to look after your little one, Preemie Care will be a life preserver through these tumultuous waters and will help steer you confidently through the first year of your baby’s life.

Karen Lasby's more than thirty-five-year nursing career includes NICU roles as bedside nurse, transport nurse and educator, pediatrics, pediatric intensive care, and community health. Karen leads a specialized nursing team in post-discharge follow-up of extremely premature infants and their families, the only team of its kind in Canada. She has presented locally, nationally, and internationally on the topics of premature babies, neonatal oral feeding, and NICU-to-home transition. She has been the co-investigator in several research studies examining outcomes for very low birth weight infants and has published several professional articles on maternal work in the NICU, neonatal transition, and gastroesophageal reflux. An educator for nearly thirty years, Karen has taught, written instructional material, and produced online courses for neonatal nursing programs. Formerly the president of the Canadian Association of Neonatal Nurses, she served on this national board for twelve years, and on the board of the Council of International Neonatal Nurses for three years. Karen has a master's degree in nursing and a neonatal nursing specialty certification with the Canadian Nurses Association and her work has been recognized by the Canadian Institute of Child Health and College & Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta.

Tammy Sherrow has a bachelor of science degree and a master's degree in nursing. During her thirty-three years as a nurse, the majority of her clinical experience has focused on the premature population, both in the NICU and in the community, as a staff nurse, educator, manager, and researcher. Tammy spent five years working with a specialized neonatal team following very low birth weight preemies and their families at home and knows firsthand the challenges they can face, especially during that first year. Tammy has published professional articles on the topics of parenting a preemie and gastroesophageal reflux management and has been a co-investigator in neonatal research projects on oral feeding and post-discharge outcomes. She has presented locally, nationally, and internationally on the topics of premature babies and NICU-to-home transition. She is an associate professor at the School of Nursing & Midwifery at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta.