The Silence Between Two Heartbeats added to the Countway Library collection at Harvard Medical School
The narrative nonfiction work by A T M Haidar Khan, which follows a family through a newborn medical crisis, is now listed in the library’s public catalog.
The Silence Between Two Heartbeats, a memoir by author A T M Haidar Khan, has been added to the collection of the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Its record is now live in the library’s public catalog.
Leonard L. Levin, Interim Director of the Countway Library, confirmed to the author that processing of the donated copy was complete. In earlier correspondence, the library said the memoir was the kind of material Countway seeks to collect and that it would be glad to add the work to its holdings.
As part of cataloging, the library considered subject headings to help researchers and readers find the book. Topics discussed included neonatology, neonatal intensive care, fathers, newborn infants, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), neonatal seizures, caregiving, and the parent-child experience.
Written from a father’s perspective, the memoir recounts a family’s journey through a newborn medical emergency, time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and the neurological uncertainty that followed. It goes on to cover the realities of caregiving and disability, and the family’s resilience. The book is presented as narrative nonfiction, not as medical guidance or clinical evidence.
The catalog record may temporarily show the book as unavailable while construction affects the library’s stacks. According to the library, the book will become available along with other affected titles once access to the stacks resumes.
The book’s inclusion reflects a library collection and cataloging decision. It does not constitute an endorsement by Harvard Medical School or the Countway Library of the book’s views or any medical claims.