By: Manjeet Kaur, M.D.
Publisher: Inspirante Publishing LCC
Publication Date: March 2019
ISBN: 978-1-7326462-0-9
Reviewed by: Diane Lunsford
Review Date: June 28, 2019
Dr. Manjeet Kaur delivers a beautiful book that showcases the miracle babies who took their first breath of life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Women & Babies Hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
(Dr.) Manjeet Kaur was born in Delhi, India. While her credentials speak for themselves, it is the person behind such credentials that makes this book a bittersweet journey that is laced with unwavering commitment and a ferocious tenacity of a person who never gave up. In 1984, Dr. Kaur traveled to Lancaster, PA, where she established roots and set to the task of singlehandedly setting up the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). In the early years of taking on such a feat, there were many days when Dr. Kaur worked twenty-four-hour shifts (and sometimes more) to stabilize a sick and quite premature infant. Simply put, there was no one else who had the knowledge or ability to do what she did.
Through her commitment and leadership, Dr. Kaur established a care unit that was not only gaining recognition beyond Lancaster, but a place that was renowned for its level of quality care thanks to her vision and determination. Despite her unconscionable workload, Dr. Kaur never took on a case without applying her personal touch of love and compassion. This book is truly a testament to her legacy. Specifically, in 2002, the hospital recognized Dr. Kaur’s unfaltering achievements and awarded her a prestigious honor by naming the neonatal division at the Women and Babies Hospital the ‘Manjeet Kaur MD Division of Neonatology.’
When I was first approached to read and review Dr. Kaur’s book, my thought was: I have to do this. My mother has passed, but I have fond memories of the years when she would share her stories and experiences while working as a nurse in the NICU of Plantation General Hospital. Dr. Kaur has done an epic job of chronicling the first breaths taken by premature babies whose birth, by all accounts, defied survival. Not only did these little miracles survive, many grew up to become quite accomplished adults. Dr. Kaur’s voice resonates throughout this book and through her words, she has painted a beautiful ‘garden of flowers’—the ‘flowers’ depicting the premature babies she treated. There is a vast array of articles, photographs, and personal stories of the surviving babies and their families and tender moments of reunions year after year with Dr. Kaur—a gift the good doctor was graced with each time she saw her miracle babies who fought tremendous odds and won. While I was blessed years ago with two full-term and thriving ‘baby girls,’ this book is a must for all the women out there whose little bundle of joy simply couldn’t wait for full gestation. Well done Dr. Kaur. This is an outstanding book.
Quill says: My Garden of Flowers is an exceptional read. It offers a bounty of beautiful accounts of the miracle of birth that are anchored with faith and the will to live.
For more information on My Garden of Flowers: Miracles in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, please visit the book's website at: mygardenofflowers.wordpress.com
