The First Breath is the first popular science book to tell the story of the rising fields of foetal and neonatal medicine at work in leading hospital units around the world, including our very own NHS. It’s also a memoir of unparalleled personal insight, exploring the female experience of medicine as well as the relationship mothers have with doctors who hold not only life and death but the very possibility of birth in their hands.
Pan Macmillan is offering reading groups the opportunity to apply to read and review this powerful memoir.
More about the book
Six years ago, top health journalist Olivia Gordon was 29-weeks pregnant when a scan revealed that her baby boy was critically ill, his lymphatic system failing. Chance of survival? 50%
Thanks to a risky operation in utero by some of the world’s most highly skilled doctors, he underwent life-saving surgery and survived. But the journey was not over. He was born too early, taken away at birth and placed in an incubator. Dozens of doctors and nurses fought around the clock to keep him alive. Every day brought a new infection, a new diagnosis, a new operation, a new crisis. Could he survive? After five anxious months of neonatal care … he lived.
Apply by 8 June
