Description

---

The First Breath is the first popular science book about the pioneering fetal and neonatal medicine bringing a new generation into the world—a generation of babies without precedent, who would not have lived if they had been born only a few decades ago. Olivia Gordon explores the female experience of medicine through her own personal story and sensitive, intimate case histories of other mothers’ high-risk births. She details the relationship mothers develop with doctors who hold not only life and death in their hands, but also the very possibility of birth. From the dawn of fetal medicine to neonatal surgery and the exploding field of perinatal genetics, The First Breath tells of fear, bravery and love. Olivia Gordon takes the reader behind the closed doors of the fetal and neonatal intensive care units, resuscitation rooms, and operating theaters at some of the world’s leading children’s hospitals, unveiling the untold story of how doctors save the sickest babies.

About the Author

---

Olivia Gordon is a journalist who has written for the Guardian, Times, and Broadly.

Praise For…

---

"Excellent . . . superior prose . . . A serious journalistic investigation into foetal and neonatal medicine . . . reads like a thriller."—The Times

"A gem… So impressed by the tenderness and science." —Dr Rana Awdish, Author of In Shock

"Heartstopping" —Daily Mail

Best science books of 2019: "Pacy and accessible . . . It is the female experience of such invasive surgeries that remains the focus here; expectant mothers steeling themselves for “needles as long as rulers” and learning to navigate a “strange form of knowledge” about a child that has yet to enter the world." —Zoe Apostolides, Prospect

 

"A touching, insightful and engaging memoir" —The Lancet

"an affectingand highly personal exploration of the medical advances that have saved babies who “would not have survived… if born 30, 20, or even 10 years ago.”…A tough but rewarding report from the front lines of fetal and neonatal medicine." —Publishers Weekly

"Magnificent…a treasure in scientific medicine reporting." —Professor Steven D. Douglas MD, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia​

"Fascinating and moving."—Adam Kay, Sunday Times bestselling author of This is Going to Hurt

"Beautifully and clearly written and immensely touching...A great storyteller…[Gordon makes] us feel the great and risky adventure of surviving a difficult childhood and becoming a person: and the linked one of being a parent. Endlessly subtle…a wonderful, intelligent writer." —Maggie Gee

"Moved me to tears." —Professor Stuart Campbell, British fetal medicine pioneer

"A meticulously researched history of fetal medicine and a heartfelt account of parenting preterm babies." —Leah Hazard, bestselling author of Hard Pushed: A Midwife’s Story

"A book full of emotion and one that medical practitioners should read." —Jewish Chronicle

"A wonderfully insightful account of advances made in fetal and neonatal medicine... incredibly moving." —Synapsis

"Fascinating and heartbreaking, it’s one we won’t ever forget…Such a powerful book." —The Motherload

"Jaw-dropping." —The Birth Trauma Association

"Smart, sympathetic" —Sunday Times Style