Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores The Science, The History, And The Wonder Of Childbirth (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
First 2 confessions - 1) I partially got this book from the library because it amused me that it was written by a Mark Sloan, and 2) I skipped the last chapter because it wasn't related to pregnancy or labour. I enjoyed reading this. It had a lot of good historical information presented with a mix of personal experiences of the author. It was interesting learning about how things have changed from ancient times, especially within the last couple hundred years. I appreciated the fairly unbiased presentation as well. There is very little input from the author about current birthing methods, instead he presents it more as being up to the women and what they are comfortable with while promoting education of options. This book was cool! Did you know?• The first well-documented, successful Cesarean was performed in 1826 in South Africa by Dr. James Barry—who managed a 40-year medical career before anyone discovered “he” was actually a woman.• For pain management during labor, Pliny the Elder prescribed drinks containing ground snails, earthworms, and goose poop. Other ancient labor pain remedies included belly salves made from viper fat, eel gall, powdered donkey hoof, and snake tongues.• Queen Victoria was enormously influential in making obstetric anesthesia socially acceptable; she requested and was granted the use of chloroform with her 8th and 9th children.• Males’ hormones change when their mates are pregnant, most likely because of pheromones that the female gives off. Their testosterone levels decrease and levels of the “female” hormones estradiol and prolactin increase.• Ever wonder why babies seem to be virtually neckless? Because of their short necks, the epiglottis and the upper part of the windpipe can rise up in the back of the throat and create a barrier, allowing milk to flow around the epiglottis and down the esophagus, so they can breathe and swallow at the same time! Most mammals can. Early humans could; in fact, the original job of the uvula was to grab on to the windpipe as it rose and seal it tight. But as we evolved, our necks lengthened in tandem with our ability to produce a wide range of speech sounds. Now we can talk a fancy game, but we can also die from choking.• Circumcision was never big in the United States until the 1890s, when the president of the San Diego Board of Health announced that it would “cure” masturbation. He called the foreskin an “evil genie” and an “outlaw” that induced young males to grab their penises. Remarkably, his ideas caught on, and by the 1950s, 90% of newborn boys in the U.S. were getting circumcised. By the late 90s the number was down to about 65%--but that’s still high compared to the worldwide estimate of 10-20%. Germany, Russia, China, and Japan all have a less than 1% circumcision rate.
What do You think about Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores The Science, The History, And The Wonder Of Childbirth (2009)?
Very good book about childbirth, from a male doctors perspective !
—heatherlo1974
One day I may come back to this but it's just not happening now.
—Dena
