Manual of Newborn Care A. Santosh Kumar, Hyderabad; Paras Medical Publisher; 2008. Pages: 560, Price: Rs 450.00

Neonatology is still a challenging specialty, more so in a developing country like India where neonatal mortality accounts for significant chunk of Infant mortality. Writing a handbook especially on practical management of a sick newborn is even far more challenging. Though, of late, there are plenty of publications available on the subject, there is paucity of ‘competent’ manuals that not only cover all the aspects of day-to-day neonatal problems but also cover them in a most feasible way keeping the affordability and practicality of applied interventions at the forefront. And, this manual of Dr A. Santosh Kumar fulfills this much vaunted need in a most laudable way.


The manual contains five sections that deal with fifty-eight topics. The section dealing with presenting symptoms and signs is most appealing. A busy practitioner will find this section most handy and convenient to navigate between pages. Quick practical information can be easily retrieved in a hassle-free way. All the chapters are written in a simple language suffused with personal tips deviating from the usual textbook solutions. It is just like ‘what I would do in my setup if faced with this problem’ rather than ‘what is ideal and evidence-based approach to deal this problem’! The author has provided numerous practical tips where ideal infrastructure and resources are lacking. An effort is indeed made to strike a balance between ‘what is ideal’ and ‘what is feasible’. However, the formulated management protocols have nowhere reflect a major deviation from the accepted, ideal, evidence-based approaches. The printing is trendy and color illustrations add to the aesthetics of the book.


On the flip side, few of the chapters, particularly those dealing with most common neonatal problems like HMD, Perinatal Asphyxia, etc need a bit more ‘caressing’ from the author for future editions. Readers may want to know more about the different ventilation techniques and approaches. Neurodevelopmental assessment of ‘NICU graduates’ is another topic that can be added to future editions. All in all, this is an honest and sincere attempt by a neonatologist based in a state that has succeeded in bringing down the IMR to a level which envy many advanced states of the country and that too without resorting to any hi-tech medical technology and without having many level III neonatal setups. The manual is strongly recommended to both- a neonatologist practicing in a periphery and the other working in a tertiary care setup.


(Reviewed by Vipin M. Vashishtha)