The Fourth Trimester: Understanding, Protecting, and Nurturing an Infant through the First Three Months

The first three months of a baby’s life is an outside-the-uterus period of intense development, a biological bridge from fetal life to preparation for the real world. The fourth trimester has more in common with the nine months that came before than with the lifetime that follows. This comprehensive, intimate, and much-needed “operating manual” for newborns presents a new paradigm of a baby's early life that shifts our focus and alters our priorities.

Combining the latest scientific findings with real-life stories and experiences, Susan Brink examines critical dimensions of newborn development such as eating and nutrition, bonding and attachment, sleep patterns, sensory development, pain and pleasure, and the creation of foundations for future advancement. Brink offers well-informed, practical information and the reasons behind her advice so that parents and caretakers can make their own decisions about how to care for a newborn during this crucial period. The Fourth Trimester assures readers that infants are as biologically capable as they are physically helpless. They thrive on what is readily available in every household: consistent, loving attention.

“In this important work, Brink shows us something rare in the baby book world: an author that knows who parents are, what they need, what is supportive, and what is really good science. She knows the distinctions between value judgments and what we know to be true, scientifically. Brink's ideas couldn't be more appropriate to our historical moment.”—James. J. McKenna, P.h.D., Director, Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory, University of Notre Dame "

"The Fourth Trimester will appeal to the audience of young parents. It has lots of helpful information and the idea of a fourth trimester is a helpful concept. Very readable!"—Penny Glass, Developmental Psychologist, Head of Child Development Program, Children's Hospital, Washington D.C.

“In this important work, Brink shows us something rare in the baby book world: an author that knows who parents are, what they need, what is supportive, and what is really good science. She knows the distinctions between value judgments and what we know to be true, scientifically. Brink's ideas couldn't be more appropriate to our historical moment.”―James. J. McKenna, P.h.D., Director, Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory, University of Notre Dame "

"The Fourth Trimester will appeal to the audience of young parents. It has lots of helpful information and the idea of a fourth trimester is a helpful concept. Very readable!"―Penny Glass, Developmental Psychologist, Head of Child Development Program, Children's Hospital, Washington D.C.

Susan Brink is a medical journalist and a former staff reporter for U.S. News & World Report and the Los Angeles Times. She is coauthor of A Change of Heart: How the Framingham Heart Study Helped Unravel the Mysteries of Cardiovascular Disease.