Future Birth
A short story by Dr Lynn R S Genevieve
Inspired by Star Trek……and the NHS……
I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m a bit of a Trekkie (Star Trek fan, for the uninitiated) and as is my ‘gift’, I can bring birth into any subject. As early in my midwifery writing career as 1997, I managed to note that:
All I needed to know about midwifery I learned from Star Trek
• Non-interference is the Prime Directive
• Humans are highly illogical
• Infinite diversity in infinite combinations
• Insufficient data does not compute
• Seek out new life
• When logic fails, trust a hunch
• Boldly go where no midwife has gone before
• Live long and prosper
In 2019, as I moved into creative fiction, I initially looked to combine my passion for midwifery with my love of fantasy and sci-fi and wrote a short story. This was the result.
Future Birth
Carly was now sure that she was having contractions regularly, and that they were getting stronger and longer and closer together, so she woke her partner, Jay. This was the point that they could be admitted to the maternity unit according to the App on her phone. All they had to do was check in on-line. Jay was up immediately and offered to do this whilst Carly dressed and checked her overnight bag. The ‘Personalise your Birth’ App connected to their local hospital, was very straightforward and the couple had enjoyed putting together their unique birth plan just last week. All Jay had to do now was press the ‘yes’ next to the ‘in labour?’ option and their personally selected midwife would be waiting for them on arrival at the unit.
It was their first baby and after reading everything they could, and speaking to other couples on-line, they knew exactly what kind of midwife they needed: young like them, so that they could relate to her; confident, giving reassurance frequently, and experienced enough to know exactly what would be right for Carly when it came to help with decision-making. They’d submitted the questionnaire, and the hospital would be able to find the best match for their needs based on their answers.
It wasn’t long before they reached the entrance of the hospital and the App gave them the code to open the door. It was 03:00 and they didn’t expect to see any people around, but as they went in, a car’s headlights could be seen arriving in the car park.
The Welcome Screen in the foyer lit up as they entered, displaying the words:
“Good morning, Carly & Jay, and welcome to Future Birth, the new state-of-the-art hospital supporting women in one-to-one care with their own specially matched midwife.” They smiled at each other. This was so exciting. The ultra-modern building was only a few months old, and as soon as they had toured it last month, they had been looking forward to this day. The screen changed and they were instructed to follow the violet-coloured lights to their birth suite. They looked down, and a gentle purplish glow began to illuminate the floor. As they walked, the glow grew brighter ahead, and disappeared behind them. After a most enchanting walk of some 10 minutes following the fairytale lights, they reached a purple door with a screen to the left which said:
“Do not enter unless the alarm is sounding.”
They looked at each other again, but this time quizzically. They’d chosen their wording for the birth room as part of the questionnaire in the birth plan - and it was supposed to say:
“Do not enter - new soul about to be born.” Perhaps it would be on another doorway?
Carly’s phone vibrated, and like magic, the door opened. The beat of heavy rock filled their ears. This came as a surprise, as they’d been expecting Jay’s choice of classical and calming music. Just as they stepped in, the door closed automatically behind them, and a figure stepped out of a side room.
“Mornin’ Carly, mornin’ Jay. Let’s get dis show on the road. You don’t need me to tell you what’s comin’, you know what you gotta do. Off we go. You can call me Angie.” The grandmotherly midwife with just a hint of a West Indian accent turned on her heels and sauntered away waving her hand for them to follow. They followed, and Carly shrugged her shoulders to Jay’s questioning look. Where was the young cool midwife they’d requested? Was this her assistant?
Meanwhile, another couple had arrived at the Reception and the labouring woman was irritated, telling her partner to hurry up otherwise the baby was going to be born in the doorway. He tried desperately to find the code to get in but the App wasn’t co-operating. The woman was about to take the phone off of him and try for herself when he found it and opened the door. The Welcome screen lit up just as the woman had a huge contraction and she grabbed hold of him. Once it subsided, they looked at the screen and it told them to follow the red lights to their birth suite.
They walked fast, the lights anticipating their speed, and within 5 minutes they reached a red door. Another strong contraction took all their attention. The phone vibrated just as the contraction came to an end and the door opened. This baby wasn’t going to be long, Carly could tell, and just wanted to get to the birth room, strip off, and get on with it, probably on all fours on the floor like last time. They stepped in. Where was the midwife? Carly could feel another contraction coming and grabbed Jay as it intensified.
“Hello, Carly and Jay……oh this looks promising. I’m your midwife, Jessica. Oh, that’s right breath through it. Well done, Jay, you must’ve been to classes. I can see you know how to support your partner. That’s it, nearly over, and then perhaps you’d like to have a bit of a soak in the beautiful birth pool, it’s all ready for you.”
Carly came out of her contraction, looked at the smiling young face, and then in confusion at Jay. And was that classical music she could hear?
“I thought we agreed on Muse, what’s this rubbish?” Carly glared at Jay, then, looking at the midwife asked, “Birth pool? I didn’t request that. Last time it happened so quick that I … oh no”.
She broke off as another contraction seized her and she grabbed hold of the midwife’s arm to steady herself.
“That’s it Carly……oh, that’s a strong one. You’re squeezing really quite hard, let’s get to the birth room before another one comes. There you go, it’s almost over. Aren’t you good at this ...you may need something more than water … what did you mean last time? I’ll just go and check your notes.” And Jessica was gone.
Carly was immediately taken over by another contraction and groaned loudly and deeply as she dropped to the floor onto her hands and knees.
Meanwhile, the other Carly and Jay in the violet suite, followed midwife Angie into the birth room and looked around. Where was the pool?
“Is there another room with the pool?” Jay tried to shout over the loud soundtrack. Angie seemed oblivious to them, singing along as she sorted things onto a trolley and stared at a screen on the wall that was headed, ‘Birth Plan - Carly and Jay’. Jay was about to repeat the question when Carly cried out, “Jay, quick, I can feel a tightening coming at last.”
Jay supported Carly, trying to soothe her but was increasingly irritated by Muse’s ‘Newborn’ bellowing out into the room. As Carly recovered, seconds later, Angie looked at them both, hand on hip. “Is dat it?” she asked. “I think you’re gonna have a longer labour dis time.”
“This time?” the women chorused. Angie stared and seemed to be looking at them properly for the first time.
Back in the red suite, Jay had joined Carly on the floor just in time to catch the baby emerging from its mother’s body.
“I think there’s been a ...” and Jessica’s voice was interrupted by a loud baby’s cry. “Oh!” Jessica appeared. “The notes say that Jay is the biological mother, this doesn’t make sense?”
Back in the violet suite, midwife Angie continued to stare. Carly and Jay stared back. “Is this about the pool?’ asked Jay, ‘we were told it was guaranteed.”
“Pool? I don’t know about no pool.” The midwife retorted. Carly glared first at Angie, then Jay.
“What the hell?” Carly was angry.
“Just dat it says Jay is the biological father”, Angie tried to make sense of it all, and then added, “Oh … I see”, and turned to the screen, swiping through a few pages added: “You’re the wrong Carly and Jay. I better press the emergency ...” but was unable to finish as a high-pitched alarm sounded and the lights started flashing.
The next day, the CEO of ‘Future Birth’ held a press conference.
“Can I just say, that we are very sorry to have caused any distress and that we are investigating our systems as I speak. Until we sort out the glitches in the programs, this hospital will remain closed to women in labour. However, our holographic midwives will continue to practice in the antenatal and postnatal wards offering the most up to date evidence-based practice in the world, personally tailored to each and every woman.”
(Image: https://www.craiyon.com/image/qNdTJoXxTmKI_MbxfKHjLQ)