Baby City

An Inside Look into Labor & Delivery

By: Freida McFadden, Kelley Stoddard

Narrated by: Lori Moran

Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

There are only three things in this world that are certain: death, taxes, and babies. Nobody knows this truth better than Emily McCoy, a third-year resident working in Baby City, the affectionate nickname for the busy Labor and Delivery unit at a New York City hospital. On a typical day in Baby City, Emily delivers more babies than the number of hours of sleep she manages to squeeze in that night. And definitely more than the number of dates she's been on since she started her training in OB/GYN two years earlier. As Emily works tirelessly to safely herald baby after baby after baby (after baby) into the world, she becomes well acquainted with the three hard facts of Baby City:

1. Babies never come when you want them to. 2. Babies always come when you don't want them to. 3. You don't know who your true friends are until your baby is sliding down the birth canal.

©2015 Freida McFadden (P)2016 Freida McFadden

Book was ok, narrator was not

Another reviewer compared this book to “watching an episode of Grey’s Anatomy “. That is a very accurate description. The story is slow moving and a bit boring…the part that really bothered me was the narration. In this book the main character is supposed to be about 30 yrs old. The narrator sounds like she is 50-60 yrs old. I often wonder if the author cheaped out and hired their mother in this situation. The narrator also tried to do ALL the voices, the male voices were especially bad. It was seriously hard to finish. I do not recommend this book. Boring, slow going and awful narration.

Good story, narrator tried but failed miserably!

I liked the story but it was hard to listen to. Since I paid for it I did finish it but the narrator was so difficult to listen to. Her "voices" for characters was so awful. She has a monotone voice and when she tried a different voice for different characters it sounded like each character was yawning or about to fall asleep. Even when the character exclaimed it was hard to tell from the the narrators depends depiction of it. I would have just stopped listening and gone to read it but I have 5 kids and there isn't time to sit and read a book. The story was intriguing and a good pace.

Great story that could really be real

Interesting, funny and sad story thats true to life. Never worked in OB, but the life of the hospital, residents, patients , and attendings rings very true to life in my experience. The narrator is different and excellent and adds a punch to it all. I loved listening to her.
If you want a good story that's not BS based like TV and the the authors of "medical thrillers", this is it. This is the third time in a little more than a year that i am enjoying listening to this book. Dr Stoddard nailed it.

Great look into being an OBGYN

I really loved this book. I thought it was a great look at what a doctor goes through in choosing to be a OBGYN. The addition of a little romance is nice too. I would have to say my favorite art was the end when many of the earlier events are reintroduced or answered.

I had to stop listening

Any additional comments?

I couldn't get through this book. The narration was very off-putting. Very. The story itself only excelled with the baby birthing scenes The little vignettes were quite rewarding and what I expected from the title. The main character, however, was a tosser.

Up until the time I just could not take anymore, Emily was a horrid person. Her only redeeming quality was her choice of vocation. At one point in the book, she was called down to emergency and instead of leaving, she took the time to blast her then "friend with benefits" for a perceived slight. And that came one or two days after she wanted to get back with her ex-husband and was foiled by his announcement that he got engaged to another.

If the narration was better I could have stayed with it for the vignettes (and to see Emily's hoped for redemption) but faced with an icky heroine and horrible narration, I just couldn't.

Expected more out of Frieda.

On my journey to read all of Frieda McFadden's books this was one of the last few and I have to say if it were my first I probably wouldn't ever read another one of her books. the narration was horrible making me cringe each time she tried to disguise her voice to another character. As a labor and delivery nurse I appreciated the accuracy of the specialty but the story line was so boring it took me weeks to get through this book. I definitely would not recommend this book. It was honestly just plain boring.

Enjoyed !

I loved the look into OBGYN….. since my daughter is a med student going into this field. But I also loved the story line. Very heart felt in the end

Not so good

I have read all of Friedas books and they have all been awesome. This was nothing like them , if I read it first I wouldn’t have read the others . Narrative was very disappointing.

Reads like fiction, still interesting

What did you love best about Baby City?

The variety of cases that were covered, easy to follow, and the side stories of personal relationship stuff was a bonus.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Lori Moran?

Her "normal" speaking voice was okay. It was when she did "voices"...aghhhhh. Especially "Ted". If he had been a main character, I could not have finished the book.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom

Sneak Peek into LIfe in the Baby Ward

If you could sum up Baby City in three words, what would they be?

Babies, doctors, fun

What did you like best about this story?

It was like a behind the scenes look into life in the labor and delivery ward. I have 3 kids, so I could picture the rooms and almost everything the story told. Great story!

What about Lori Moran’s performance did you like?

She did a great job. All the characters sounded different, which helps the story come alive. I would listen to her again if given the chance.

Who was the most memorable character of Baby City and why?

Caroline! The poor medicine student who just didn't seem like she would make it through. Every time she was in the scene, I would wonder what she was going to do wrong this time.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom