In this first inside account of the closed world of neonatal intensive care, two medical sociologists focus on the social context for medical decision making in the sensitive area of newborn life. Based on observations in the most sophisticated neonatal intensive care units in twelve U.S. hospitals, this work raises important questions about infants, parents, and hospital personnel: When should a baby be moved into--or out of--an intensive care unit? How much help should be given? To what extent are parents regularly excluded from decisions made about the fate of their child? The result is an enthralling ethnography with findings both fascinating and eye-opening.