Pierre and Héloïse have it all: they’ve been madly in love for five years, they have great jobs and an enviable lifestyle. Then suddenly, their life is overturned. Their first child, a very premature baby, was born three months preterm, 600 kilometers from home. A battle for life and against death is engaged.

In France alone, 60,000 preemies are born every year, accounting for 8% of all births: that’s 165 a day, one every eight minutes. But nobody ever talks about them. Not health professionals, not their loved ones, no one. ?

In this poignant account, Héloïse des Monstiers describes her difficult path to parenthood with sincerity and realism. Peau à peau lifts the veil shrouding prematurity, a subject that is still taboo in our society that exalts giving birth.

A former journalist at Le Figaro, Héloïse des Monstiers is the head of the French division of the online dating services Meetic and Disons Demain.