BIRTH

HE RESUSCITATES A NEW BORN CHILD

About the Author

 
Author Name:   A.J. Cronin
Full Name:        Archibald Joseph Cronin
Born:                 19 July 1896, Cardross, United Kingdom
Died:                 6 January 1981, Montreux, Switzerland
Movies and TV shows: Citadel, The Stars Look Down
Awards:             National Book Award for Fiction

Theme

Dr Andrew Manson has just begun his medical practice in the small Welsh
mining town of Blaenelly. When he returns from a terrible evening with his
girlfriend Christine, Joe Morgan approaches Dr Andrew Manson to help in
the delivery of his wife.
Dr Andrew Manson has to put in much labour in the delivery, as the mother
requires much attention before she is revived. Further, the baby was not
breathing at birth. Using all his knowledge and intuition, Dr Andrew Manson
makes more efforts to revive the child. After almost half an hour of frantic
efforts, he succeeds and comes away with a sense of achievement.

The Characters

Dr Andrew Manson:
He is a young medical graduate working in a small mining town. On the call
of Joe Morgan, a miner, Dr Andrew Manson manages to help in a difficult
birth and saves the baby’s life due to his knowledge and efforts.
 
Joe Morgan:
He is the miner husband of Susan Morgan. He asks Dr Andrew Manson to
help in his wife’s delivery and reposes full faith in the doctor.

Susan Morgan’s Mother:

She is a tall, grey-haired woman aged 70 who is concerned about her
daughter’s happiness.
 
The Midwife:
She is pessimistic about the child’s survival when he is found to be not
breathing when born, but still dutifully assists Dr Andrew Manson in his
work.

About the Lesson

 
This excerpt is all about Andrew Manson who is newly out of medical
college and has just commenced his practice under the supervision of Dr
Edward Page as an assistant in Blaenelly. It also highlights the efforts made
by Andrew Manson in saving the life of a newly born dead child who finally
gets to live because of him.
At the beginning of the chapter, we find Andrew Manson very sad and
monotonous after having a disappointing evening with Christine, the girl
whom he loves a lot. On reaching his home, he finds Joe Morgan, waiting for
him, whose wife in pains and expecting her first baby after a long time. On a
special request of Joe Morgan Andrew Manson goes to his home to help his
pregnant wife. Although he is dead tired, yet he picks up his bag and reaches
Joe’s home with even complaining once.
Joe refuses to enter his house as he can’t see his wife in pains and decides to
wait outside until the good news comes. But Andrew Manson enters the
home and finds two other women over there as helping hands i.e. Mrs
Morgan’s mother and an elderly midwife who is sitting beside the patient
waiting for the right time. Meanwhile, Andrew is given a cup to tea and he
starts waiting for the moment whence he has to start his work on the patient.
While waiting, he gets lost in the imagination of the episode that happened at
Cardiff station and other married people’s life which is worthless and
unreasonable.
At half-past three, he is called by the nurse on the top floor. Andrew Manson,
without delaying, starts working on the patient incessantly. In spite of
working so hard on the patient for such a long time, he finds the child born as
lifeless when it is born. He hands over the dead child to the nurse and draws
his entire attention to Susan Morgan who is breathless as well as desperate
seeing the lifeless child. He manages to help her retain her breath after
injecting the medicine through a hypodermic.
Now, Andrew Manson pays his all heed to the child who is lying lifeless. He
kneels down & finds the child who is perfectly formed with the skin of lovely
texture but dead. He feels out of wits as he has no idea how to save the
lifeless child. Soon he is reminded of the same incident wherein a boy was
resuscitated by the team of doctors born in the same scenario at Samaritan.
Without wasting a single second, he begins the special method of respiration
which makes no difference. He asks the nurse to bring two basins of cold and
hot water each. When the water is brought, he starts dipping the child from
one basin to another incessantly.
Despite his untiring efforts, the child doesn’t breathe. Andrew Manson
doesn’t give up and continues his efforts until the lifeless child is brought to
breathing. At last, the boy gets back to life which is seen and announced by
the midwife. The child starts crying and the efforts put in by Andrew Manson
bring fruit. He, though worn and tired, takes his jacket and goes out of the
home without worrying about his bag. He gives this good news to Joe
Morgan who has been expecting a child for a long time. Finally, he takes a
sigh of relief that he has done something good at last.
 
Summary

Joe Morgan was Waiting for Dr Andrew

 
Dr Andrew had recently graduated from medical college. He was practicing
as an assistant to Dr Edward Page in a small Welsh mining town named
Blaenelly. One night he was returning home when he found Joe Morgan
waiting for him outside the doctor’s home. He had been there for more than
an hour. He looked relaxed to see the doctor. He informed that the doctor was
needed at their home as his wife was expecting to deliver a baby after almost
20 years of marriage. Dr Andrew asked him to wait for a few minutes. He
went inside, got his medical bag, and set out for Joe Morgan’s house.
 
The Case Demanded All Attention of Dr Andrew
 
Joe Morgan stopped outside the house and requested Dr Andrew to go inside
alone. Through a narrow staircase the doctor reached a small, clean but
scantily furnished room. He found two women beside the patient, Susan
Morgan’s mother, a tall, grey-haired woman of nearly seventy, and an elderly
midwife.
Susan’s mother offered him a cup of tea. So, Dr Andrew sensed that she
didn’t want him to leave, as there would be some waiting period. Dr Andrew
was tired but still decided to stay.
An hour later, Dr Andrew went to check the patient and came down. The
restless footsteps of Joe Morgan could be heard as he paced the street outside.

Dr Andrew’s Mind Wandered

 
Dr Andrew was so deep in his thoughts that the voice of the old lady (Susan
Morgan’s mother) surprised him. She informed him that her daughter didn’t
want him to give her chloroform if it would harm the baby. Dr Andrew
replied that it would do no harm. Just then he heard the midwife’s voice. It
was half-past three and Dr Andrew perceived that it was time for him to start
working on the delivery.
 
The Horrifying Dilemma
 
After a harsh struggle for an hour, the child was born, a perfectly formed boy.
Unfortunately, it was not breathing. A shiver of horror passed over Dr
Andrew. He had promised the family so much. He wanted to resuscitate the
child, but the mother herself was in a very desperate state. He gave the child
to the midwife and turned his attention to Susan Morgan, the mother, who
was lying unconscious. Her pulse was slow, and her strength was reducing.
After a few minutes of continuous efforts, he stabilised her by giving her an
injection. Then he asked for the child. The midwife had kept the child under
the bed, presuming him to be dead. Dr Andrew pulled out the child. His head
was hanging loosely, and the limbs seemed boneless. He concluded that the
child was suffering from asphyxia pallida (an abnormal medical condition in
a newly born baby).

Dr Andrew’s Efforts to Save the Child

 
Dr Andrew recalled a case he had once seen in the Samaritan (a medical
journal) and the treatment that was given. He asked the midwife to quickly
get hot water and cold water in two bowls.
He started plunging the child once into the icy water and then into the
steaming bath alternately. Fifteen minutes passed and nothing happened. Dr
Andrew was getting frustrated. He could see the unbelieving faces of the
midwife and the old lady, but he continued his efforts.

The Miracle
 
Dr Andrew started rubbing the child’s chest with a rough towel and thumping
his little chest, trying to get breath into that limp body.
Then, as if by miracle, the child’s chest began moving. Dr Andrew felt weak
and nervous at the site of life springing under his hands. He redoubled his
efforts and the child was now breathing. Life came to his limbs, head became
erect, the child’s skin started turning pink and suddenly the child cried.
The midwife exclaimed with tears of happiness in her eyes, ‘Oh God, he has
come alive.’
 
Dr Andrew is Relieved
 
After so much frantic effort and success, Dr Andrew felt weak and
speechless. The old woman, Susan’s mother, was still standing against the
wall, praying.
Andrew went downstairs and told that he would fetch his bag later on. He
found Joe Morgan still waiting with an anxious, eager face. Dr Andrew gave
the happy news that both the mother and the baby were all right.
Andrew was really happy and exclaimed, ‘Oh God, I’ve done something real
at last.’ He had achieved a feat in medical history which would certainly
brighten his future.

Highlights

 Dr Andrew was a young medical graduate who worked as an assistant

to Dr Edward Page in a small Welsh mining town, Blaenelly.
 Dr Andrew was returning home after a disappointing evening with his
girlfriend Christine,
  Dr Andrew found Joe Morgan, anxious and scared, waiting for him.
 Joe Morgan informed him that the doctor was needed at their home as
his wife was in labour before the expected date. This was to be their
first child in a marriage of nearly twenty years.
 When they reached the house, Dr Andrew realised that he would have
to wait some time; so, he decided to wait downstairs.
 Then Dr Andrew is called upstairs and starts his work. After an hour’s
struggle, the child, a perfectly formed boy, was born lifeless.
 Dr Andrew was horrified but continued his effort first to save the
mother, whose energy was reducing.
 After the mother was safe, his attention went to the child. He
instinctively decides to revive the child.
 Dr Andrew quickly diagnoses the most probable cause for the still birth
i.e. asphyxia pallida.
 Dr Andrew recalls a method he had once read about by which such a
child had been successfully saved.
 Dr Andrew tries alternate hot and cold-water treatment to revive the
child’s breath.
 Dr Andrew then rubbed the baby’s body with a rough towel, crushing
and releasing the chest.
 A medical miracle happens. The child finally breathes. Dr Andrew
redoubles his efforts till the child cries.
 After handing over the baby to the midwife, Dr Andrew left the house.
He realised that he had truly saved a life that night, fulfilling the
purpose of his profession.
 For the first time Dr Andrew felt that he had done something ‘real’,
something worthwhile.
 
Textual Questions
 
A. Reading With Insight
 
Question 1: “I have done something; oh, God! I’ve done something real at
last.” Why does Andrew say this? What does it mean?
Answer: The young doctor Andrew Manson had done a commendable work.
His exclamation is justified. He had not only helped the middle-aged lady in
the safe delivery of a male child but also restored them to perfect health.
Susan Morgan’s strength was ebbing after the delivery. She was almost pulse
less. Andrew gave her an injection and worked severely to strengthen her
heart.
The major achievement of Andrew was to resuscitate the stillborn child. First,
he laid the child of a blanket and began the special method of respiration.
Then he tried the hot and cold-water treatment dipping the baby alternately.
He laboured in vain for half an hour. He then made another last effort. He
rubbed the child with a rough towel. He went on pressing and releasing the
baby’s little chest with both his hands. At last the baby responded. His chest
heaved. Andrew redoubled his efforts. The child was gasping now. A bubble
of mucus came from his tiny nostril. The pale skin turned pink. His limbs
became hard. Then came the child’s cry.
Andrew called upon God as witness of his act which was no less than a
miracle. It was not mere theoretical talk but a practical achievement—
something real and solid.
 
Question 2: ‘There lies a great difference between textbook medicine and the
world of a practising physician.’ Discuss.
Answer: Normally, the medicines prescribed in the textbooks are used by the
practising physicians. However, in extreme cases of emergency, the
physician’s experience, resourcefulness, and practical approach become far
more important than the theoretical knowledge. For example, a victim of
bum-injury, snakebite or suffocation through drowning needs immediate
help. T he nearest available doctor may not have all the facilities needed for
the case. In such a situation first-aid is a must to save the patient’s life before
rushing him to the hospital for proper care. With limited resources at his
command, the practising physician exercises all his practical experience to
control the damage to the minimum and check the victim’s state from further
deterioration. A stitch in time does save nine in such cases. The practical help
comes as a boon.
 
Question 3: Do you know of any incident when someone has been brought
back to life from the brink of death through medical help? Discuss medical
procedures such as organ transplant and organ regeneration that are used to
save human life.
Answer: Yes, I have seen and heard of incidents where people have been
brought back to life from the brink of death through medical help. Surgical
operations, lifesaving drugs and organ transplant play a leading role in
modem medical science. Leading hospitals in advanced countries have
facilities for medical procedures such as organ transplant and organ
regeneration. Blood bank and eye bank are quite common. Nowadays people
willingly donate various organs of their body to the hospitals after their death.
The techniques of organ regeneration help to preserve them for certain period
and use them for transplanting the defective organ of another patient.
Nowadays eye, heart, kidney, and liver are being transplanted. The time is
not far off when artificial human organs will be made in laboratories from
non-human sources.
 
Short Answer Type Questions
 
Q1. Why was Andrew so serious and tense that evening?
Ans. That evening Andrew was tense and serious. He had a disappointing
evening with his girlfriend Christine. Moreover, he had seen some painful
incidents of husbands’ suffering at the hands of their wives. He was short of
sleep as well.
 
Q2. Who was Joe Morgan? Why was he so tense and waiting anxiously for
Dr. Andrew that night?
Ans. Joe Morgan was in dire need of Dr. Andrew’s help. His wife Susan was
in labour. She was going to deliver their first child after 20 years of marriage.
Joe and Susan were keen to have the child delivered safely. So, he stood
waiting anxiously for the doctor.
 
Q3. That night proved unusual and it influenced Dr. Andrew’s whole future
in Blaenelly. What miraculous thing happened that night?
Ans. Dr. Andrew had first begun his medical practice in the mining town of
Blaenelly. The successful handling of Mrs. Joe’s case proved a turning point
in his life. It was no less than a miracle. He restored life in a stillborn child.
 
Q4. Why were Susan and her old mother equally so tense that night?
Ans. Susan was in labour after 20 years of marriage. It was natural for her
and her husband Joe to be tense. Susan’s old mother also stood beside her
tense and hopeful.
 
Q5. Susan’s mother was wise in experience. What hints did she give of her
wisdom?
Ans. Susan’s mother was a tall, grey-haired woman of nearly seventy. From
her personal experience, she knew that the childbirth would take some time.
She was wise enough to fear that Dr. Andrew might not wait for long. So, she
tried to make him stay by offering him tea and sitting beside him.
 
Q6. Why and when did a shiver of horror pass over Dr. Andrew?
Ans. Dr. Andrew was shocked and horrified as he looked at the lifeless newly
born baby. He also noticed Susan sinking. He was in a dilemma, whom to
save first.
 
Q7. Dr. Andrew faced the biggest dilemma of his life that night. How did he
act and save two lives?
Ans. Dr. Andrew was called to supervise the first and crucial delivery of
Susan Morgan. He was tense and short of sleep. Still, he decided to wait. He
gave a promise to Joe and his wife that all would be well. But he became
nervous to find both the mother and her baby in trouble. He first gave
injection to Susan. Next, he lifted the stillborn baby, put him in hot and cold
water and pressed the child’s chest. Luckily, he saved both of them.
 
Q8. Comment on the behaviour and role of the midwife attending on Susan
Morgan.
Ans. The midwife attending on Susan showed lack of experience and
professional attitude. She declared at once that the baby was stillborn. She
pushed it under the bed. Even when Andrew was trying to bring back life into
the baby, she showed disbelief and even discouraged Andrew from making
feverish effort. The cry of the baby made her exclaim with
joy.
 
Q9. What did Andrew do to restore life in the stillborn child?
Ans. Andrew recalled a similar case in the past. He gave the same treatment
to the stillborn baby. He asked for hot and icy cold water. He placed it into
cold and warm water alternately. He rubbed the child with a rough towel and
pressed and released the little chest with his hands. The miracle happened. Its
skin turned pink and it cried.
 
Q10. Describe the moments when the stillborn child gave a short heave and
slowly revived.
Ans. Andrew for a while felt beaten and disappointed. But he made one last
effort. He pressed the baby’s chest gently and then released. The technique
was successful. He felt the little heart beating. A bubble of mucus came from
one nostril. The child was gasping and then came a cry.
 
Q11. What was Andrew’s greatest achievement and satisfaction as he walked
out of the House Number 12, Blaina Terrace?
Ans. Dr. Andrew was called to handle a critical case of delivery. He was
tired. He felt defeated. He was in a dilemma because of the sinking condition
of Susan and the lifeless form of her baby. But he saved both the lives. He
called it his greatest reward and success.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. Why was Andrew feeling so dull and listless that evening? How did that
evening influence his whole life and career?
Ans. Andrew returned home after midnight. His experience with Christine
that evening was not happy one. Moreover, several episodes of unhappy
married couples also saddened him. Outside his house was Joe Morgan
waiting anxiously for the doctor. He led Andrew to his house where his wife
Susan was in labour. Both were set upon the child. Andrew decided to wait
and give medical aid. He had no idea that the incident of that night would
give him not only supreme satisfaction but also name and fame. He worked
hard and very intelligently saved the life of mother as well as her stillborn
child.

Q2. What was Andrew’s dilemma after the delivery? How did he solve the
problem so successfully?
Ans. The child was born at daybreak. Dr. Andrew was filled with horror as he
looked at the lifeless baby. He had now two patients on his hand. Susan was
fast losing her pulse. The baby was white, lax, and lifeless. Andrew was in
dilemma whom to give his attention first. Going by instinct, he gave an
injection to Susan and pulled her out of danger. Then he pulled out the child,
with warm body but no breathing. He gave it an unusual treatment using cold
and hot water and the pressure of his hands. And there was a miracle. He
thanked God when the child gave out a cry.
 
Q3. Narrate the story in about 100 words of your own. What message does it
convey?
Ans. This story narrates an incident in which a young doctor saves two lives.
Both the mother and her still born baby were in a critical condition. It
highlights the miracle that a physician can perform.
Andrew was a young doctor. He was called upon to supervise a case of
childbirth. Joe and his wife Susan had been married for nearly twenty years.
They were expecting their first child. Two women were already at Susan’s
bedside—Susan’s old mother and a midwife. Andrew decided to wait till the
work was completed. When Susan gave birth to the baby, her own condition
became critical. The baby was stillborn, limp, and boneless. Andrew first
restored the mother to a safe point. Then he picked up the child. He dipped it
into hot and ice-cold water alternately. He applied mild pressure on the little
chest. And it came back to life.

Q4. There is a great difference between textbook medicine and the world of a
practising physician. Discuss.
Ans. Bookish knowledge is very important as it imparts theoretical
knowledge. It teaches a man intricacy of a problem and its probable
solutions. If a man having theoretical knowledge has no practical experience
he may fail in his job. On the other hand, a man with practical knowledge and
experience only may fail to achieve the desired results. In our day to day life
we meet compounders surpassing the doctors and the physicians. A physician
who has read the process of administering an injection but has not done it
with his own hands will fail in his attempt to administer injection. On the
contrary, a compounder can surpass the physician because he has practical
experience. Similarly, if you have minutely observed a man doing his job to
perfection you can apply that very practical experience based on your keen
observation and achieve success. Dr. Andrew could save the child because he
had observed somebody saving an almost lifeless child. He applied that
practical experience and knowledge and did his job efficiently. So, for
success especially in medical field especially both bookish knowledge and
practical experience are indispensable.
 
Q5. “I have done something, oh, God! I’ve done something real at last.” Why
does Andrew say this? What does it mean?
Ans. Andrew was fresh from the medical school. He was still working as an
assistant to Dr. Edward Page in Blaenelly. He had yet to prove his merit. He
got a chance soon to test all his learning. He knew that a doctor’s job was to
save life. He got a golden opportunity unexpectedly one evening. He was
called upon to supervise the delivery case of Susan Morgan. He waited all
night. But he was horrified to find the new-born baby almost lifeless. The
mother was also collapsing. He first saved the mother’s life by giving an
injection. Then he turned to the stillborn baby. He applied treatment he had
once seen at school. He dipped the baby first in warm water and then in icy
cold water. His effort was crowned with success. The child began to gasp and
then cry. Andrew had supreme satisfaction because he had saved two lives.