Breakthrough! How Three People Saved “Blue Babies” and Changed Medicine Forever

This nonfiction account follows the 1944 development of a surgical treatment for blue baby syndrome, a congenital heart condition that left children with too little oxygen in their blood. It brings together the work of Dr. Helen Taussig, surgeon Alfred Blalock, and Vivien Thomas, Blalock’s African American laboratory assistant. Thomas developed and refined the procedure and assisted in the operating room, while Taussig’s work was driven by the need to help her young patients. The book also addresses the sexism Taussig encountered and the racism Thomas faced before receiving recognition for his work.