After the obstetrician took Margaret’s newborn baby, he was shocked and let out a scream when he heard the newborn utter one word. That shock prompted him to do something that eventually saved the baby’s life.
Margaret and her husband Max were overjoyed when, after many weeks of waiting, she finally went into labor. The delivery was long and painful, but when they got to hug their little boy, they felt like the luckiest people on the planet.
Then the doctor took her newborn sons away to an adjoining room for examination. He was a skilled professional who was performing a routine task he had done thousands of times before, and they felt like they had nothing to worry about. Still, Max insisted on following him. He expected to encounter a barrage of opposition from Dr. William, but the obstetrician merely nodded and then ignored him, focusing all of his attention on the two babies before him.
As he picked up one of the infants, his face close to the child, he suddenly let out a scream. The nurses turned towards him, startled and confused, and asked what happened, but the doctor ignored them completely. He frowned and looked at the baby more closely, appearing to listen to something only he could hear. Then he looked at the child again, as if he was daring him to do something.
There are a series of tests that obstetricians like Dr. William perform with every birth to assess how well the baby is able to function independently of its mother’s womb. If there are complications, the baby might be transferred to an incubator or a special neonatal unit. Before Margaret’s babies were carried to term, they had a better-than-average chance of being in good enough shape to be discharged with their parents to go home. But as Dr. William studied these babies, he made an unexpected call for extra tests.
Max was on him at once, demanding to know what that meant. Dr. William ignored him. Max saw him taking a blood sample from each of the babies. Surely that could not be part of the procedure. The doctor frowned deeply as he fed each blood sample into a device and studied the results. Then he looked at the babies again. Dr. William seemed to be shaking about something. He was mumbling, “I heard him say it. I’m sure I heard him say it.” He seemed to be delirious, and the concerned nurse asked him what was wrong.
Max felt his blood become ice cold as the doctor said, “I heard that baby say something to me. It’s impossible. I must have imagined it, but it sounded like ‘help.’ And if he had not said it…”
Max steadied himself by grabbing hold of a nearby cabinet. What did he mean by that? Were his children sick? If after all this effort there was something wrong with their babies, Margaret would crumble. Max didn’t know what to do. He was desperate to know the results of the tests, which the nurses told him could take hours. But on the other hand, Margaret must be worried and keen to have her twin babies back in her arms again. How could he explain this heartbreaking situation to her? One of the nurses reassured him that they would do everything in their power to make sure that the babies had everything they needed.
When Max returned to Margaret, he found her sitting up in bed, quite lucid after all the intensity of the labor with the two babies, but also perplexed and puzzled about why it was taking so long for the nurses to return with the twins. Max brought her up to speed on everything he had seen and heard, but unfortunately, that did not reassure her at all. As they waited in Margaret’s ward, the minutes dragged by. Finally, someone appeared, and to their surprise, it was Dr. William himself. But the doctor looked very different from their earlier appointments, where he had seemed confident and maybe a little arrogant about his competence.
It had all started when Margaret woke up one morning with unbearable pain in her stomach. She felt convinced that something had gone horribly wrong with her pregnancy, and since she was having twins, that may very well be the case. Max felt that familiar feeling of powerlessness that all would-be dads experience and got ready to rush his stricken wife to her obstetrician. It was difficult to get parking at the hospital where Dr. William had his consultation rooms, so Max left Margaret at the drop-off area after making sure that she felt good enough to walk there on her own.
When she reached the consulting rooms, which were on the second floor, Margaret found that the reception area was packed with waiting patients. Was everyone in the city having a baby? It almost seemed like that would be the case. Margaret approached the receptionist.
“How are you doing, Margaret?” the woman asked. “You must be looking forward to those two little rascals in there. You’re due next month, if I’m not mistaken.”
“That’s right,” said Margaret, “on the 11th or thereabouts. But I think something’s wrong. I feel terrible, and there’s this cramp in my stomach that just won’t go away. I would really appreciate it if you could fit me in.”
“Let’s have a look,” said the receptionist. “It’s going to be difficult. We had not one but two unscheduled deliveries early this morning, and all of our appointments are running late.”
Margaret shrugged and said she’d wait. For a moment, it looked as if there wasn’t even going to be a chair available, but then another woman was called in, and Margaret was grateful for a chance to get the weight off her suffering legs. With the receptionist’s words still echoing through her mind, she wondered whether her babies could be making an early appearance. That might make her present discomfort a little easier to bear.
When Max finally arrived at the reception room, Margaret was still daydreaming about the possibility of early motherhood. He wasn’t any happier than his wife when he saw how busy Dr. William was, but considering how worried she had been about the sudden assault of pain she had experienced, he agreed that they needed to get to the bottom of this affliction.
They waited for almost two hours before Margaret’s obstetrician, Dr. William, finally managed to squeeze her in. But she noticed at once that he seemed distracted. Throughout the consultation, he laid his hand on her stomach and listened through his stethoscope for a few moments before saying, “Everything seems to be in order.”
Dr. William was so curt that Margaret hesitated before asking, “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” he said, “of course I am. Have you eaten something? It’s probably that. Some women become more susceptible to food poisoning during pregnancy.”
“I don’t think I ate anything,” Margaret protested.
Dr. William cut her off. “Stress can also be a factor. After all the difficulty getting pregnant, you are probably worrying yourself sick. Try to relax, my dear. Make sure that you get enough rest. Everything will be fine.”
It was true that she had spent three whole years trying to get pregnant, but she certainly hadn’t gone crazy in the meantime. She was not imagining her symptoms, so why was he dismissing her so quickly? Margaret saw a half-empty cup of coffee standing on his desk. There was also a half-eaten sandwich lying on the counter with a napkin partially obscuring it. He must have been in the middle of his lunch, she realized. For a moment, she felt bad for having disturbed him. On the other hand, she was concerned about her babies, and what he had told her was so general and non-specific. She couldn’t quite suppress the notion that he was trying to get rid of her.
Dr. William’s off-hand attitude and his dismissal of her symptoms and fears left Margaret somewhat uncomfortable. He was a highly reputed obstetrician in their city, that was true, and several of Margaret’s colleagues and friends spoke highly of him. But her own consultation with the man had been less than satisfying. It hadn’t helped Margaret in any way, and she felt hesitant to show up at his rooms again. When her stomach pain persisted over the next few weeks, she tried everything to manage her pain. She made sure that she ate only bland, harmless meals. She drank herbal tea and tried ambient recordings, meditation, anything to keep herself as relaxed and unstressed as possible. Nothing helped.
The thought of returning to Dr. William’s overcrowded waiting room didn’t make her feel any better either. But when she couldn’t bear the persistent pain any longer, she called his practice once more. He did prescribe a painkiller that would be safe for her to take under the circumstances, but other than that, he offered little practical advice or encouragement.
Again, Dr. William reminded Margaret that her stress as a first-time mother expecting twins was most likely the cause of her continued discomfort. As she put the phone down, Margaret felt like crying. Was she really creating her own pain by simply being too tense? Was he seeing her as someone who was too hypersensitive to handle anything?
That evening she voiced her concerns with Max, who was considerably more sympathetic, although of course he wasn’t a doctor. They discussed the possibility of going to another obstetrician for a second opinion, but in the end, Max filled a prescription for the pain medication, and it did help her cope a little better with her stomach pains. But just when they thought everything seemed to be going a little better, there was a new complication.
Margaret’s due date, the 11th, went by without the slightest flutter and, more importantly, without the twins giving any indication that they were ready to emerge from the womb. That stress and tension that she had been trying so hard to avoid took hold all over again. What if something was wrong? The 12th came and went, and still no babies. A week passed, and then another. Margaret was getting uncomfortable, but there were no labor pains to indicate that her ordeal was finally at an end.
In their desperation, the couple began to look into ways to induce
labor. Margaret tried various activities, and sometimes Max helped out as well. Thankfully, their efforts paid off, and she soon started feeling the first contractions. With the much-awaited labor pains kicking everything into action, there was no time to spare.
Max and Margaret jumped into the car. Every red traffic light they hit took an eternity to change to green. At the hospital, Margaret was admitted and rushed to the maternity ward, with Max following close behind. The nurses were utterly professional in getting the expectant mother comfortable and ready to give birth. But then the shadow of the obstetrician fell over her bed. It was Dr. William.
By that time, Margaret was in so much pain that she would probably not have noticed if Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny delivered her babies. But Max frowned as he recognized the doctor who was the cause of so much discomfort, pain, and insecurity in the past few weeks. Max felt profoundly reluctant to trust this man with the delivery of their twins.
He spoke to a senior nurse and quietly inquired about the possibility of getting another doctor to deliver their babies. The nurse listened to his stories with compassion but reassured him that Dr. William really was the best obstetrician in the hospital ward. At this point, seeing how much pain Margaret was in, Max decided to let the matter rest. He would be there for her and support her in any way he could, while at the same time keeping a close eye on the obstetrician.
Fortunately, Dr. William kept a professional demeanor and appeared to know what he was doing. He set up the equipment and checked everything while talking to Margaret in a soothing and reassuring manner. Together with the nurse, Dr. William talked Margaret through the process. The pain was excruciating, but the first of the two babies was well-positioned, and within half an hour he had made his appearance. Max felt reassured that perhaps his judgment of Dr. William had been premature.
Margaret held the baby for a moment, and everyone congratulated her and Max on becoming parents. But unfortunately, they were not yet done. The biggest challenge still lay ahead of them. The second birth was much more difficult, and it took every ounce of stamina and determination Margaret had left to give. Vaguely, she could hear Dr. William or the nurse or Max talking to her, telling her to hold on or to be strong or to keep pushing. She was so tired, she felt so spent, and it was not enough. Not yet. She had to keep going until, at last, baby number two crowned.
“Now I know why they call it labor,” she thought as her second baby was laid into her arms. Margaret felt a warm glow as she gazed down into his tiny face, her precious little baby. The new mom was only allowed to hold this second baby for a few moments before he too was taken away, but she didn’t mind. She needed to rest. Rest. But while she submitted herself to the peaceful tranquility of rest, her husband Max tensed up with concern.
As the babies were taken away, he ran after the attending nurse and pleaded with her to let him be admitted to observe his babies being tested for their basic life signs and responses. The nurse was friendly enough but explained to him firmly that this was not standard procedure. Max begged, telling her about everything that had happened in the last months. To his immense relief, she agreed, and that’s how he found himself with two of the most shocking moments of his life. The doctor seemed to be convinced that one of his newborn babies had spoken to him. No, that he had actually asked him for help.
And now that the doctor was back in their room, he looked unsure of himself, and when he spoke to them, he stuttered. He apologized for the delay, but also for the terrible mistake he had made before in not taking Margaret’s complaint seriously. As it turned out, their twins had contracted an infection in the womb. If he hadn’t run those tests, this might well have gone unchecked, with potentially tragic consequences. Most likely, Margaret’s pain months earlier had also been related to this infection. Fortunately, the infection was treatable.
What the doctor explained to Margaret and Max was concerning, to say the least. Neonatal infections can be extremely dangerous to a baby’s long-term health prospects, but they can also cause developmental delays, potentially problematic changes in the composition of the placenta which feeds the baby in the womb, causing deficiencies in nourishment as well as transmission of oxygen.
In many cases, it has been known to cause miscarriages or birth defects. While the baby is still in the womb, the balance between mother and child’s immune systems can be very, very delicate, and the screening tests to detect such problems are not yet standard procedure. Even the treatment of such infections is still largely experimental. However, a failure to detect the problems in the first few days after birth could also have had disastrous, even lethal consequences.
Through that weird moment when the baby seemed to speak to Dr. William, the obstetrician performed crucial screening tests which led to the detection of the disease. He knew the baby had not really begged him for help, but he was glad that his blabbering had sounded like a real word because it had prompted him to run those tests. Both twins were transferred to a special neonatal unit that cared for at-risk infants. They were given a course of antibiotics suitable for newborns, and fortunately, both responded well to treatment. A second test confirmed that the infections had cleared. After six months, the babies were finally out of danger, and their proud parents, Max and Margaret, were allowed to take them home.
The parents were deeply grateful that their babies suffered no permanent damage or defects. Dr. William apologized profusely for his off-hand manner, which had almost led to a double tragedy. The second of the twins, whom they named James, turned out to be a precious child who spoke his first word at the tender age of 11 months. Or was it his second word? Who knows?
What a shocking tale! If you have a similar story about a baby who showed unusual awareness of its surroundings, tell us in the comments. We’d love to hear it. For now, though, we’re out of here. We’ll see you in the next video.
