6 Best Neonatology Textbooks (2024 Review)

Resident Doctors are required to be versed in their field of specialty. For residents who provide medical care for newborn infants, especially those that are ill or premature newborns, having the latest and most accurate information is important.

The right textbook should cover all the concepts of neonatology as well as provide detailed information on the diagnosis and treating of newborns as well as provide coordinated care and managing newborns born premature or critically ill.

best neonatology textbooks

Best Textbooks on Neonatology: Our Top 6 Picks

With so many authors and textbooks on the subject, picking the best textbook might not be an easy task. You will need a textbook that is not only updated but also easy to scan through and find important pieces of information at the right time.

Here, we’ve compiled a list of the best Neonatology textbooks for residents.

1. Gomella’s Neonatology

 

Gomella’s Neonatology, Eighth Edition is considered an amazingly comprehensive resource for learning and addressing all sorts of problems and there are many reasons for it. It provides information on diseases, procedures, interventions, and an “On Call” section presenting more than common and serious patient management issues with guidelines for rapid diagnosis and treatment.

Running three-decades-long, the book remains updated on the latest techniques and practices in the medical field of neonatology. It follows a convenient outline approach that puts key information right in front of the reader as well as quick reference sections that cover everything clinicians need to know about on-call neonatal problems, procedures, diseases and disorders, and pharmacology.

Readers should note that this textbook is no small pocket-sized book. It is an extensive 1472-page text filled with information from cutting-edge strategies for the management of specific respiratory syndromes to full-color images of neonatal rashes and dermatologic problems and 20 procedures are explained in a step-by-step manner.

  • Author: Tricia Gomella, Fabien Eyal, Fayez Bany-Mohammed
  • Publisher:‎ McGraw-Hill Education / Medical
  • Current edition: 8th edition, February 2020
  • Pages:‎ 1472 pages

2. Avery’s Neonatology: Pathophysiology and Management of the Newborn

 

Managing newborns especially those that need critical care is made easy with this piece of in-depth material. Not only will you be able to provide them adequate care but you will also be able to accurately understand their pathophysiology.

Avery’s Neonatology: Pathophysiology and Management of the Newborn was originally authored by Dr. Gordon B. Avery, a founding father of the specialty, and has been continuously updated to include modern practices on the management of both preterm and full-term neonates.

With this resource, you should be able to make the most informed clinical decision with guidance from hundreds of world authorities. The new color format allows you to scan through the pages and find the answers you need rather quickly.

On the eBook edition, this material offers online access in the form of a bundled interactive eBook. This makes the material a worthy reference. Its eBook edition features a search function that pulls results from the content in the book and the web. The pages are cross-linked to ensure easy navigation.

To mark out important notes and references, there is a highlighting tool available. For students and professionals, the eBook features the ability to take and share notes which encourages group learning.

  • Author: Mhairi G. MacDonald MBChB DCH FRCPE FAAP, Mary M.K. Seshia MBChB DCH FRCPE FRCPCH
  • Publisher:‎ LWW
  • Current edition: Seventh edition, September 2015
  • Pages: 1216 pages

3. Neonatology at a Glance

 

Authored by a team of leading international experts, Neonatology at a Glance provides a concise and easy-to-read overview of neonatal medicine. This text goes deep into the world of neonatology covering a wide range of problems encountered in looking after newborn babies, from normal newborn infants to the complexities of neonatal intensive care.

Each topic in the book is explained in a clear and easy-to-understand language with numerous diagrams and illustrations to support every point. The book will provide up-to-date coverage of the important conditions you will encounter, including neonatal resuscitation and care of preterm infants. It also covers challenging topics that some other textbooks tend to ignore. This includes pain, ethical issues, patient safety, evidence-based medicine, and palliative and end-of-life care.

The textbook doesn’t leave out the most important piece which is a wide range of practical procedures, well-detailed to ensure that readers can follow them with ease.

Overall, this book is a valuable resource for resident doctors engaged in the care of newborn infants in newborn and neonatal intensive care units. It is not as extensive as other materials but does cover all there is to know on neonatology.

  • Editor: Avroy A. Fanaroff, Lawrence Miall, Jonathan Fanaroff, Tom Lissauer
  • Publisher:‎ Wiley-Blackwell
  • Current edition: 4th edition, May 2020
  • Pages:‎ 256 pages

4. Clinical Guidelines in Neonatology

 

Though it might not be regarded as a complete textbook, Clinical Guidelines in Neonatology is that simple yet in-depth and detailed informative piece for resident doctors looking for a simpler approach to neonatology. The book features a compilation of the most current and authoritative clinical care recommendations for the neonatal patient.

The text spans all major areas of neonatal care and prenatal medicine including antenatal and prenatal management, nutrition, fluids, and many more. The entire material isn’t a block of text as you will find that the writings are supplemented with evidence-based diagnostic and treatment algorithms, detailed illustrations, and clinical images.

Each chapter focuses on clinical management practices and evidence-based supporting data so you won’t have to deal with lengthy descriptions of disease and practice. The chapters also follow a uniform presentation of neonatal conditions that includes the scope, major recommendations, and implementation of guidelines into practice.

While the book is authored by a single writer, it does find a way to draw the real-life experiences of many other resident doctors in the field which makes for a more realistic piece of information that any resident doctor can work with.

  • Author: Lucky Jain
  • Publisher:‎ McGraw-Hill Education / Medical
  • Current edition: 1st edition, June 2019
  • Pages: 672 pages

5. Neonatology for Primary Care

 

Neonatology for Primary Care is one of the few books that come from a well-trusted source and author. This piece was written by Deborah Campbell, MD, FAAP, a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics whose experience at Low birth weight infant Evaluation and Assessment Program (LEAP) as well as other procedures throughout the span of her career has been poured into this book.

This updated book features more than 40 chapters that cover step-by-step guidance on what to do, when to admit, and when to refer giving readers clear instructions to take at the right time. There are also recommendations and detailed references within each chapter so that readers can get more information for a better understanding. However, it is less likely that they will need it. This book is more than 1,200 pages long and covers just about everything that has to do with neonatology.

With 8 new chapters added to reflect the changes in modern medicine, readers can completely rely on this book for the right practical approaches to caring for healthy and high-risk newborns and infants. From maternal and fetal health, care of the newborn after delivery, breastfeeding, follow-up care, to primary care issues relating to newborns and infants requiring intensive care, this extensive material is packed with all the right information making it your one-stop source for everything on neonatology.

  • Editor: Deborah E. Campbell MD FAAP
  • Publisher: American Academy of Pediatrics
  • Current edition: Second edition, February 2020
  • Pages: 1320 pages

6. Neonatology: A Practical Approach to Neonatal Diseases

 

Neonatology: A Practical Approach to Neonatal Diseases, as the name implies is quite different from the regular neonatology textbooks on our list. While the others try their best to cover every aspect of neonatology, this text takes out one of the most important concepts and breaks it down completely.

This landmark book provides healthcare practitioners in neonatology with an up-to-date, comprehensive source of readily accessible practical advice. This book will assist in the expert management of patients and their diverse illnesses.

While it is not the latest book on Neonatology on our list, it is by no means dated. It provides information and procedures that can still be effective in modern medicine today. Within its pages are detailed information on epidemiology and fetal medicine; therapeutic issues such as the organization of care, transport services, and home care after discharge, and the consequences of medication use during pregnancy, maternal drug abuse, and smoking, and maternal diabetes.

With 2,500 pages of information available, it shouldn’t be easy scanning through the book and picking out small pieces of details, however, this is no regular neonatology textbook. It includes summaries, tables, and effective guidelines and recommendations that will supply practitioners with quick references and instant solutions during daily practice.

Overall, this book will serve as a superb resource for all involved in the care of newborn babies.

  • Author: Giuseppe Buonocore, Rodolfo Bracci, Michael Weindling
  • Publisher: Springer
  • Current edition: 2nd ed. 2018 edition, October 2018
  • Pages:‎ 2570 pages