Birth Day by Mark Sloan

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Awwwww โ€ฆ newborn babies! I am a bit excited by the image of an innocent, soft, wrinkly newborn baby these days, for obvious reasons. Less than eight more weeks until a newborn daughter joins my family!

I found Birth Day by Mark Sloan (published 2009) one day when I was browsing the shelves looking for something about pregnancy or babies, and it was just perfect! Dr. Sloan is a pediatrician, regularly on rotation at the hospital to care for the newborns who may need a little assistance getting started in the world. But Birth Day is far more than a memoir of doctoring: itโ€™s a reflection on his own experiences as a husband to a laboring woman, a personal account of his own experiences as a man becoming a father for the first and then second time, and a researched history of childbirth practices throughout history. The subtitle is โ€œa pediatrician explores the science, the history and the wonder of childbirthโ€ and that is an apt description. All those aspects are central to the book, and Dr. Sloanโ€™s casual voice and personal presence makes it a pleasant read.

Birth Day begins with Dr. Sloanโ€™s personal experiences on the maternity ward rotation while a medical student in the 1970s. His honesty as he reflects on his cluelessness is quite amusing (although it would not have been had I been the laboring mother!) but it also provides a background for the rest of the book: what does it mean for a mother to labor and deliver a child? With what methods are the woman’s pain and medical needs addressed? Who helps the woman deliver the child? And, finally, what is so different about this newly born human being?

I loved the chapter that discussed what actually happens when a child changes from being a fetus-in-utero to being a living, breathing human being. As Dr. Sloan discussed the scientific changes that happen during those first moments, I was once again in awe of the incredible transition that is โ€œbeing born.โ€ Subsequent chapters address the historical and contemporary culture of childbirth: Cesearean sections, the various types of pain medications used for labor throughout history and the current โ€œepiduralโ€ culture of America, and the attendants and medical practitioners present at childbirth. I also enjoyed the later chapters in which Dr. Sloan, as a pediatrician talks about the newborn babyโ€™s body.

Can you doubt that this book got me even more excited to meet my own little one in just a few weeks?

As I mentioned above, interspersed throughout the book are Dr. Sloanโ€™s own personal experiences as a doctor, father, husband, and friend to mothers. These personal bits gave the book a delightful tone. It is the perfect kind of popular science book: a melding of personal with scientific and historical tidbits. I think itโ€™s sure to please the parent-to-be or anyone interested in the miracle and science of childbirth.

Reviewed on January 6, 2012

About the author 

Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid is a homeschooling, stay-at-home mother seeking to make the journey of life-long learning fun by reading lots of good books. Rebecca Reads provides reviews of children's literature she has enjoyed with her children; nonfiction that enhances understanding of educational philosophies, history and more; and classical literature that Rebecca enjoys reading.

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  1. This sounds so interesting! I love reading about babies. Congratulations on only being a few weeks away from meeting your little one ๐Ÿ™‚

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