BIRTH – QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

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. 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.

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

A. Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1:
Who was [Link]? Why had he been waiting for Dr Andrew Manson?
Answer: Joe Morgan was a driller in Blaenelly, a mining town. He was a big, strong and
heavy middle-aged person. Joe and his wife Susan, who had been married nearly twenty
years, were expecting their first child. Joe was waiting for the doctor to help Susan in the
delivery of the child.

Question 2:
Where did Joe lead Andrew? Why did he not go in with the doctor?
Answer: Joe Morgan led Andrew to his house, 12, Blaina Terrace. His wife was about to
deliver her first child after being married for nearly twenty years. Joe was quite tensed. He
refused to go inside the house. Even his voice showed signs of strain.

Question 3:
“Don’t fret, mother, I’ll not run away”. Why do you think Andrew say so?
Answer: 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.

Question 4:
Why did Andrew decide to remain there until everything was over?
Answer: Andrew had reached Bryngower at about midnight. He was very worried and upset.
He needed some rest and sleep. He knew that he could not sleep even for an hour if he went
home. Secondly, he knew that the case would demand all his attention. He felt lethargic and
decided to remain there until everything was over.

Question 5:
What had Andrew been thinking about? How would you like to describe the state of his
thoughts?
Answer: Andrew had been thinking about the unsuccessful married lives of some persons he
knew. Bramwell was foolishly devoted to a woman who deceived him immorally. Edward
Page was bound to quarrelsome Blodwen. Denny was living unhappily apart from his wife.
His thoughts were muddled (confused).

Question 6:
What was Andrew’s view of marriage? Why was he resentful and confused?
Answer: For Andrew marriage was a peaceful and beautiful state. He loved Christine. The
conflict between his steady mind and overflowing heart left him resentful and confused.
Question 7:
Why did Andrew feel surprised while sitting by kitchen fire?
Answer:
Andrew had been thinking about his beloved as he sat by the kitchen fire. He sat still and
sadly for a long time. When the old woman sitting opposite him suddenly addressed him,
Andrew felt surprised.

Question 8:
Why did a shiver of horror pass over Andrew?
Answer:
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.

Question 9:
What dilemma did Andrew face?
Answer: 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.

Question 10:
What efforts did Andrew make to revive Susan Morgan?
Answer: 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.

Question 11:
In what state did Andrew find the newborn child? What did he conclude?
Answer: 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.

Question 12:
How did Andrew’s practical experience come handy?
Answer: 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.

Question 13:
What efforts did Andrew make to revive the newborn baby?
Answer: 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.

Question 14:
How did Andrew react to the first glimpse of the success of his efforts to help the stillborn
child come alive?
Answer: 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.

Question 15:
What was the result of Andrew’s feverish efforts after the child’s chest gave a short,
convulsive heave?
Answer: 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.

Question 16:
What was the state of the room after the resuscitation of mother and child? .
Answer: 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.

Question 17:
Why did Andrew say, “Fill fetch my bag later, nurse.”?
Answer: Andrew had worked hard single-handedly and constantly to save the mother as well
as the s 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.

Question 18:
How did Andrew assess that night’s work?
Answer: As Andrew left the 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.

B. Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1:
Why was Andrew Manson called in? How did he react to the call of duty?
Answer: Andrew Manson had just begun his medical practice in the small Welsh mining
town of Blaenelly. He was called in to attend to Susan Morgan, who was expecting her first
child after being married for nearly twenty years. Her husband, Joe Morgan had been waiting
for an hour outside the closed surgery. It was nearly midnight when Andrew reached there.
As Joe acquainted Andrew with his wife’s condition, Andrew forgot his own affairs. He went
inside his house for his bag and immediately left for the driller’s place.
Since his services were not immediately needed by the expecting mother, he decided to wait
downstairs. He re-examined her after an hour. It was at 3:30 am when the nurse summoned
him. He struggled for an hour before the child was born. Then he worked feverishly to revive
the weak mother and the stillborn child. He had to use all his knowledge and experience in
discharging his duty. He did not pay attention to his own physical tiredness or mental tension.
Duty came first and he responded to it with single-minded devotion.

Question 2:
Give a brief account of the efforts made by Andrew to revive the stillborn baby.
Answer: A shiver of horror passed over Andrew as he gazed at the still form of the newborn
baby. Though it was a perfectly formed boy, its limp warm body was white. The whiteness
meant suffocation caused by lack of oxygen. Andrew remembered the treatment given to
such a case in the Samaritan. Before the hot and cold water came, he had asked for, he laid
the child upon a blanket and gave it artificial respiration. Then he dipped the child alternately
in hot and cold water. Now, the child was quite slippery. He rubbed it with a rough towel.
Then he pressed and released his chest till it heaved up. It was followed by other heaves.
Andrew redoubled his efforts. The child started gasping. A bubble of mucus came from one
tiny nostril. The pale skin turned pink. The limbs were no longer boneless. His head did not
lie back spinelessly. The child gave a cry. It came alive.

Question 3:
Compare and contrast Andrew’s emotional, mental and physical state at the beginning of the
story and at the end.
Answer: 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.

Question 4:
What impression do you form of Andrew Manson on the basis of the story ‘Birth’?
Answer: 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.