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From time immemorial, we have been hearing that there is a lot of difference between theory and practice. This, indeed, is true. The theoretical information gathered from the book, sometime, does not provide solutions to all the problems. The medical textbook provides information about the treatment of various diseases but at times, the doctors face a dilemma which cannot be solved by any orthodox theory.

In the lesson ‘Birth’ Dr Andrews undergoes the same experience. When the mother and son both needed his attention, he had to make a decision. In this decision making, no medical textbook could have helped him. In this case, Dr Andrew acted instinctively. He first saved the mother and then the child. He treated the mother with the traditional treatment and the child with a mixture of traditional and intuitive treatment. The net result of both was success.

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.

Andrew is a doctor and the primary duty of the doctor is to save life. When he is faced with a dilemma, he does not lose his balance and does what he is expected to do. He saves the mother first and, by his Herculean efforts, saves a nearly dead, stillborn baby boy. What he performed was nothing short of miracle. Doctor’s sense of satisfaction is truly justified.

Doctors are expected to do their duties as and when demanded. Andrew came home at midnight. He, surely, would have been tired but responded to the duty call when Joe Morgan asked him to come to his place. Morgan’s wife needed immediate help. Andrew performed his duties exceptionally well. That is why he says, “I have done something; oh God! I’ve done something real at last”.

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.

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 wholeheartedly. He forgets his personal feelings and thinks only of reviving the patients.

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 lives 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.