«Fascinating and moving.»

<b>Adam Kay, <i>Sunday Times</i> bestselling author of <i>This is Going to Hurt</i></b>

«Excellent . . . A serious journalistic investigation into foetal and neonatal medicine . . . reads like a thriller.»

<b><i>The Times</i></b>

«Heartstopping»

<b><i>Daily Mail</i></b>

«A triumph of memoir-cum-non-fiction and a love story starring our heroes, the NHS . . . Totally brilliant and touching . . . tender, well researched and unputdownable, the best book I've read in the last twelve months. [The First Breath] moves effortlessly between personal stories of children and cutting edge scientific research . . . [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 . . . a wonderful, intelligent writer.»

<b>Maggie Gee – BBC Radio 4 <i>A Good Read</i> choice</b>

«A touching, insightful and engaging memoir.»

<i><b>The Lancet</b></i>

«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.»

<b><i>Prospect - </i></b><b>who named <i>The First Breath</i> one of the best science books of 2019<

«Part memoir, part analysis of neonatal and postnatal care. It’s wonderful.»

<b>Clover Stroud, </b><b>author of <i>The Wild Other</i> and </b><b><i>My Wild and Sleepless Nights<

«Smart, sympathetic»

<i><b>Sunday Times Style</b></i>

«Very powerfully told.»

<b>Emma Barnett, <i>BBC Radio 5 Live</i></b>

«This touching and hopeful book skilfully interweaves medical history, reporting and – most movingly – memoir.»

<b><i>The TLS</i></b>

«We take pregnancy and childbirth for granted. Now please read The First Breath and be thankful for your children’s lives. A compelling and uplifting book.»

<b>Heart surgeon Professor Stephen Westaby, bestselling author of <i>Fragile Lives</i> and <i>The Kn

«A wonderfully well written, brilliant discussion of the evolution of genetics, prenatal diagnosis, fetal and neonatal medicine, ethics and popular prejudice interwoven into a framework of [the author’s] own very human story and the other mothers who tell of their experiences so graphically . . . moved me to tears.»

<b>Professor Stuart Campbell, British fetal medicine pioneer</b>

«Exceptionally moving . . . a pleasure to read.»

<b>Professor Dame Kay E Davies, Professor of Genetics, </b><b>University of Oxford </b>

«Extraordinary . . . An absorbing and awe-inspiring account of the extraordinary foetal and neonatal medicine that is enabling a new generation of babies to thrive.»

<b><i>The Bookseller</i></b>

«Genuinely brilliant…exceptionally powerful, deep and important.»

<b>Professor Daniel M. Davis, author of <i>The Beautiful Cure</i> and <i>The Compatibility Gene</i><

«Absolutely gripping»

<b>Harriett Gilbert – BBC Radio 4 <i>A Good Read</i></b>

«A book full of emotion and one that medical practitioners should read»

<i><b>Jewish Chronicle</b></i>

«A gem…So impressed by the tenderness and science»

<b>Dr Rana Awdish, author of <i>In Shock</i></b>

«This jaw-dropping story of medical discovery is interwoven with Gordon’s own deeply moving story of her own experience as a new mother with a child in neonatal care. It conveys, brilliantly, the devastating emotional impact of being separated from one’s child, and the shock of an unexpected diagnosis.»

<b>Useful Reading, <i>The Birth Trauma Association</i></b>

«Beautifully written»

<b>Stevie Davies</b>

«A meticulously researched history of fetal medicine and a heartfelt account of parenting preterm babies.»

<b>Leah Hazard, bestselling author of <i>Hard Pushed: A Midwife’s Story</i></b>