Birth

Short Answer Questions:

1. “I have done something; Oh, God! I’ve done something real at last.” Why does Andrew say this? What does
it mean?
A. Andrew says that he had done something real at last. He said this because he had handled a tough situation.
He had been successful at saving both – the mother and the child. It was a complicated delivery and gaining
success at it made him feel that he had done something worthwhile. Doing something real at last means Andrew
felt content and jubilant at his own efforts and the achievement.

2. There lies a great difference between textbook medicine and the world of a practising physician. Discuss.
A. Textbook medicine gives knowledge about medicines, diseases, human anatomy and treatments. However, it
does not teach you how to handle stressful situations. While a practicing physician has to work in various odd
situations. His skills of endurance and medical expertise are tested in such situations. So, textbook medicine and
the world of a practicing physician are very different from each other.

3: “Don’t fret, mother, I’ll not run away”. Why do you think Andrew say so?
A. Mrs Morgan’s mother offered to make a cup of tea for the doctor. The experienced woman had realized that
there must be a period of waiting. She was afraid that the doctor would leave the case saying that he would
return later.

4: Why did a shiver of horror pass over Andrew?

A. Andrew had struggled for more than an hour to help Mrs. Susan Morgan in the safe delivery of her first
child. At last, the child was born, but it was lifeless. As Andrew gazed at the still form of the baby, a shiver of
horror passed over him.

5: What dilemma did Andrew face?

A. His heart prompted him to resuscitate the stillborn child. His mind dictated him to attend to the mother who
was lying in a hopeless state. Andrew faced the dilemma whom he should attend first.

6: What efforts did Andrew make to revive Susan Morgan?

A. He smashed a glass ampule and injected the medicine. After this he flung down the hypodermic syringe.
Then he worked quite hard to restore the soft and weak woman. Her heart strengthened after a few minutes of
feverish effort.

7: In what state did Andrew find the newborn child? What did he conclude?
A. Andrew found the baby amongst wet newspapers under the bed. Its limp warm body was white and soft. Its
head lolled on the thin neck. The limbs seemed boneless. The whiteness over the body meant suffocation caused
by the lack of oxygen.

8: How did Andrew’s practical experience come handy?

A. Andrew had once seen a similar case in the Samaritan. He remembered the treatment that had been used. He
at once decided to administer the hot and cold water therapy.

9: What efforts did Andrew make to revive the newborn baby?

A. First, he laid the child upon a blanket and gave it artificial respiration. Then he dipped the child alternately in
hot and cold water. After that he rubbed the slippery child with a rough towel. He pressed and released his chest
till it began to breathe and gave a city.

10: How did Andrew react to the first glimpse of the success of his efforts to help the stillborn child come alive?
A. As a result of Andrew’s persistent efforts, the small chest of the baby heaved up. This short heave was
followed by other heart beats. Andrew turned giddy. The sense of life, throbbing under his feelings almost made
him faint.

11: What was the result of Andrew’s feverish efforts after the child’s chest gave a short, convulsive heave?
A. Andrew redoubled his efforts. The child began to gasp deeper and deeper. A bubble of mucus came from a
nostril. The limbs were no longer boneless. The pale skin turned pink. Then the child cried. It came alive.

12: What was the state of the room after the resuscitation of mother and child?
A. The room was littered with blankets, towels, basins and soiled instruments. The hypodermic syringe was
impaled in the linoleum by its point. The ewer was knocked over. The kettle lay on its side in a puddle of water.

13: Why did Andrew say, “Fill fetch my bag later, nurse.”?
A. Andrew had worked hard single-handedly and constantly to save the mother as well as the stillborn child
from the jaws of death. The constant efforts, tension, desperation caused by failure combined to make him weak
and dazed. His throat was dry.

14: How did Andrew assess that night’s work?

A. As Andrew left driller’s house, he felt tired. He kept thinking of the work he had done that night. He realised
that at last he had done something real. For him it was an achievement.

Long Answer Questions

1:“I have done something; oh, God! I’ve done something real at last.” Why does Andrew say this? What does it
mean?
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.

2: ‘There lies a great difference between textbook medicine and the world of a practising physician.’ Discuss.
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. The 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.

3. Compare and contrast Andrew’s emotional, mental and physical state at the beginning of the story and at the
end.
At the beginning of the story Andrew is physically tired and emotionally upset. He has just returned from a
disappointing evening with Christine, the girl he loved. His thoughts are heavy and muddled. The episode he
had witnessed at Cardiff station still filled his mind with sadness. Though he thought of marriage as a blissful
state, he couldn’t help remembering the miserable failure of many marriages.
At the end of the story, Andrew is physically exhausted but emotionally cheerful and mentally alert. His mind is
filled with joy and self-satisfaction. He has performed an unusual feat, no less than a miracle. He calls upon
God as witness that he has done something real at last. This sense of achievement helps him to overcome
physical fatigue. His sense of duty towards his patients helps him to attend them whole-heartedly. He forgets his
personal feelings and thinks only of reviving the patients.

4. What impression do you form of Andrew Manson on the basis of the story ‘Birth’?
Andrew Manson is a young man who has recently qualified as a doctor and started his medical practice as an
assistant to Dr Edward Page in the small Welsh mining town of Blaenelly. He is in love with Christine and
thinks of marriage as an idyllic state. His heart is overflowing with love. His steady mind and reason help him
see the marriages of many persons as dismal failures.
Andrew is mature enough to keep his private and professional fives apart. Once confronted with his
responsibility, he discharges his obligations to the utmost capacity. He is duty conscious. He is not a theorist
only. He believes in practical approach. He is pragmatic and is not afraid to try unique methods.
Andrew has a tender heart. He is aware of the feelings of others. He knows how deeply Susan loved her coming
baby. He has polite manners and reassuring tone. On the whole, Andrew impresses us as a dedicated doctor.