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Civics 101

Life Stages: Birth

Civics 101

NHPR

History, Government, Society & Culture

4.22.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2019

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What does it take to be born an American citizen? And then, once you are, how do you prove it? And what does it get you? Today on Civics 101, we talk to Dr. Mary Kate Hattan of Concord Hospital, Dan Cassino of Farleigh Dickinson University, Susan Pearson of Northwestern University and Sue Mangold of the Juvenile Law Center to find out where (American) babies come from, and what that means.  CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

0:12.4

I want to start this episode at the very beginning

0:20.5

of everything. I mean, I want to start this episode the way everybody starts.

0:30.0

I love that moment when you see a mother or family meet their newborn for the very first time.

0:37.8

After all these months of anticipation, I continue to find it to be one of the most moving things I

0:44.6

have ever been lucky enough to be present for. This is Dr. Mary Kate Haddon. It's such an honor to be

0:51.5

there. It will never get old for me. Mary Kate is a family medicine physician who practices

0:58.3

obstetrics at Concord Hospital in New Hampshire. She cares for pregnant mothers, she delivers babies

1:04.0

and ideally she becomes that baby's doctor once they enter the world. I think most people are amazed

1:10.3

that in the end the most important part is when you actually meet your baby. And sometimes I think

1:17.5

those moments when you first realize, oh my goodness, there's this whole baby I need to take care of.

1:22.8

I think sometimes that can be surprising. So Nick, you have experienced this moment twice,

1:29.1

the birth of a new baby. Did you feel like instinct kicked in or were you little?

1:35.6

Absolutely terrifying. I couldn't believe they let me take it home.

1:39.8

It couldn't believe they let me take it home in the car after he was born.

1:43.9

So you had no idea what to do? I'd read a lot of books. I had a lot of people's advice,

1:49.6

but when it's the real thing, yeah, I didn't know what to do. Well, luckily, even if you are one

1:55.3

of the many parents who don't immediately know what to do with this tiny human you're responsible for,

2:01.1

there are systems in place to make sure that that baby gets off on the right foot.

2:11.8

Mary Kate made clear that there are plenty of ways to have a baby in the US, but best practices

2:17.2

dictate important steps for doctors and nurses to take. So after our baby is delivered,

2:22.3

we're immediately making sure that the baby is breathing, that the baby has nice tone and is

...

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