Baby City

by Freida McFadden, Kelley Stoddard

There are only three things in this world that are 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

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.

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, Thriller, Humor, Mystery Thriller, Chick Lit, Medical

426 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 25, 2015

About the author

#1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publisher's Weekly, and Amazon Charts bestselling author Freida McFadden is a practicing physician specializing in brain injury who has penned multiple Kindle bestselling psychological thrillers and medical humor novels. She lives with her family and possessed cat in a centuries-old three-story home overlooking the ocean, with staircases that creak and moan with each step, and nobody could hear you if you scream. Unless you scream really loudly, maybe.

Note that I am maxed out on friends, so I apologize in advance that I can't friend anyone back!

Reviews

[sonya balian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible example of what goes on behind the doors of labor and delivery

I have never read a book so full of typos in my life. There was even a typo in the acknowledgement section.
As a high risk labor and delivery RN, I found this book incredibly insulting to my profession. How many times did they have to say "she's just a nurse"? The book also made it seem like the main character actually hated labor and delivery and did not see the miraculous beauty of human birth.
I read this book out of curiosity only and would absolutely not recommend it to anyone.
P.s. I never ever write reviews, but this book pissed me off enough that I had to...

[Fee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read every book that Freida McFadden has written except 3. This book is the first time she's ever mentioned a black person.

I was excited when I first read the description of Marissa until she says "artificially straightened hair" WTF does that even mean??? Was her hair chemically relaxed? Flat ironed? Did she have extensions? It really isn't that hard to not be ignorant. She goes on to describe Marissa as built like a "linebacker ".

If you've read any of her other books, all of the men are "painfully handsome" white men and all of the women are petite white women with "shiny blonde hair" or "long dark hair". She proceeds to describe Marissa as hairy like a monkey, describes a jungle, etc.
And to add further insult, of course Marissa doesn't get her happy ending. And is portrayed as selfish.

This is sick af knowing that Freida is a real doctor. I'm thoroughly appalled.

[Christine Lucia Asha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do we blame Freida McFadden OR Kelley Stoddard for the racism and birthing rights denigration throughout this book..... "It must be hard to be a pregnant high school student, especially for a nice, middle-to-upper class girl."

I can't decide if this deserves ONE star. It is basically hating on everything from natural birth, midwifes and doulas, black people and obese people, and assumes teenage birth is easier to deal with for poor people (???)

It is supposed to be a fun look at the maternity ward in a hospital but it is bogged down by random patients and their situations and all the drama that could happen.

The only black mother is growing a jungle of hair, the only obese mother has 10 pounds of fat on her cesearean scar incision, the only midwife has 'frizzy black hair wrapped in a kerchief' and killed a baby, doulas are clueless cheerleaders....so much hate!

[Elise a.k.a. PAPERNERD · Rating 5 out of 5]

No, it was not a suspense with twists - regardless, this was a good story and I loved it just as much as all of Freida McFadden's books !

The story is about residents in a OB/GYN - ward in a teaching hospital in NYC.
There's one - mostly annoying to the residents - student, and of course the residents and their bosses...

It is a light-hearted read and it has it's sad scenes, but you will make it through them just fine.

Loved it, would highly recommend !

Another win for Freida McFadden !

[Savannah Cieslak · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5⭐️

I’ve been trying to work my way through Freida McFadden’s backlog and the next book was supposed to be “Suicide Med” but it was republished and had about 20% of the story changed and it’s now titled “Dead Med”. I want to find a copy of the original but the only ones I’ve found are the spam ones or where they are at least $100. This was the next book after that and unfortunately this was very disappointing. This is another medical drama and follows Emily, who is a OBGYN doctor. She is an extremely unlikable character. She had a tendency to be very hostile towards her bosses, coworkers, med students, nurses, and patients. She mainly focused with the delivery aspect of the hospital, but she was very bitter towards the mothers. She would complain a lot about them and treat them terribly. Her attitude towards nurses was horrendous and knowing that the author was a doctor is truly sad. This does have a coauthor so I don’t really know who wrote those scenes, but either way it wasn’t the best. I think this is one of the last medical dramas in the backlog and hopefully the next few are thrillers.

Spice: .10 (briefly mentioned scene and then fades ton black)

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this author's writing. All of her books are available for cheap on Kindle, and they're all funny and fast-paced. This latest one is no exception. It's not like some literary masterpiece, but it was a fun and engaging read, and I was disappointed when it was over. I would definitely recommend this one in particular to any of my medical friends (it's written by an actual doctor, so she GETS medical training), and also any friends who like reading about birth/babies or chick lit.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book I’ve read in a long time. Plot ? Couldn’t tell you.. I am still wondering what this book is about. Except for the grossly inaccurate representation of birth / delivery i couldn’t tell you what happened. So bad I am shocked I was able to finish.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know McFadden has written other medical novels, but this is the first one with so much medical content among those I've read. None of it was overly technical, and I loved that it took place in a labor and delivery women - gynecology and obstetrics being a highly undertaught and misunderstood medical specialty. McFadden's medical training comes through really well.

Didn't care for the romance, but the writing was good - made me laugh several times. Also, Caroline was a really great character. Indefatigable she is! Loved her.

Not McFadden's usual, but in some ways, I enjoyed it more. Rounding up to 4.

[Kristine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dr. Emily McCoy is a Third Year Resident working in Manhattan at Cadence Hospital. She works on the Labor and Delivery Ward, called Baby City. Dr. McCoy clearly hates her job, many of her colleagues, and especially her patients. She gets really annoyed when one wants to ask her a question or bother her in some perceived way. There are many ways to tick her off, but I would definitely stay clear of her. It’s going to be easy since there isn’t a Cadence Hospital in NYC. She is the sort of person who thinks her sarcasm and belittling is funny and it just isn’t.

So, why stick with this book about a Resident, both listening and reading? Well, to find out the Mystery, the thrills, the twist! Opps…..this was first published 10 years ago. This isn’t a mystery or thriller at all. It would have been kind if the book wasn’t marketed as a Thriller. Just bland Emily carrying on about her day and who got on her nerves.

The part I enjoyed was the medical procedures and terminology that were part of being an Obstetrician. This book I believe was primarily about co-author, Kelley Stoddard’s Residency.

[Jeana · Rating 1 out of 5]

from bookstagram @jeanareads

This story felt the same as watching greys anatomy which I loved. It’s very uncommon for me to read something other than romance or at least when it’s not the main genre but the different pregnancies and births the main character was dealing with kept it so intriguing.

Any other time I would’ve loved reading something like this but the main character was so hard to like. She was unbearably judgmental and outright unprofessional most of the time. From making fun of patients with pcos to blaming all of her mistakes on another doctor, Emily was just frustrating to read about.

Maybe this wouldn’t have been a problem for me if she was able to redeem herself and change as a person but she doesn’t.

*SPOILER* Not only did she marry the guy she kept framing for things she did, without so much as an apology, but the doctor she practically bullied admitted she wanted to be just like Emily. I mean really could we not have held her accountable for anything? *SPOILER OVER*

Knowing one of the authors is a doctor and they probably wrote the sceneries and thoughts here from experience makes me even more weary of hospitals. I already feel judged when going and this only proved the fears I have.

I’ll give a few examples so you guys don’t think I’m just being dramatic.

As Emily says, “what else do psychiatrists do besides prescribe drugs for crazy people.”

She also makes fun of a patient who has pcos and therefore has uncontrollable body hair that grows all over her body. Then gets upset when someone calls her out on it.

THEN, she tries to shame another patient for wanting her tubes tied without her boyfriend knowing. The guy tries to pressure her into having more kids when she clearly doesn’t want to and what does Emily think? She feels bad… for the guy…

“If this woman is bipolar and pregnant, she is almost certainly off her medications. Therefore completely batshit crazy.” - Emily

That’s not even all of it but instagram comments has a limit. Reading this review over it sounds so harsh but I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone.

[its.mandolin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Riddled with racism, classism, fat-phobia, other insane biases (the abhorrent comments and attitude towards bi-polar disorder MADE MY JAW DROP) and this book has the most unlikable bitch of a main character, Emily, that is also everyone’s biggest hater (derogatory). Actually, Jill might have been a bigger hater (derogatory) who has to be miserable in her own life. I cannot understand why Emily is an OBGYN when she seems to hate everything about it. Caroline was an incompetent caricature of a character but at least she seemed to like the patients and their babies. There were interesting examples of things that could happen in the labor and delivery unit but there are too many issues in GLARING NEON LIGHTS for this to be an enjoyable read.

[Jess ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

there's nothing to say 😐

[CAROLYN Wyman · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok story

Baby City By Kelley Stoddard and Freida McFadden is a medical drama

Emily McCoy is a third year resident in the Labor and Delivery Department at a New York City hospital. They call the L & D department Baby City, for obvious reasons. But even though Baby City is where babies make their way into the world, not all journeys into the world are the same, and unfortunately not all have happy endings.

The book focuses on Emily, but also has her very pregnant best friend Molly, and the new intern Caroline in it. Poor Caroline thought she would enjoy her time in Baby City, but it seems that she may never actually get to deliver a baby as all her cases are ending in C Sections.

This definitely isn’t a happy book as it explores the harder topics that surround having babies. Although I really liked the book, I disliked the amount of sadness and heartbreak the book brings. I didn’t like the way patients were talked down about, even though I know it really happens.

Fans of Greys Anatomy and Private Practice may enjoy this medical drama with a little bit of romance. It’s definitely not my favorite Freida book, and although I’m a big fan of both shows, this was just ok for me.

Be aware that this has a large number of trigger warnings as it explores child loss, medical errors, and other traumatic childbirth experiences.

[Incita · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing is typical of the author and an easy read, interspersed with clear „look how informed I am“ medical speak by the coauthor. Conveniently, one of the characters is a completely clueless medical student who needs everything explained, which allows these information passages to sort of blend in with the story.

The story lines and character development are a bit too meh even for an easy read, so I was going to give four stars. Then came the absolute condescension towards nurses, overweight people and people who homebirth and/or do anything that the authors obviously find unacceptable in child birth- for example, not working 80 hours when you’re 30 weeks pregnant and having contractions. Down to two-three stars.

And for this sentence alone „It must be hard to be a pregnant high school student, especially for a nice, middle-to-upper class girl.“ it’s down to one. Absolutely gross.

[Riley Maloney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of stupid. I don’t know. And i literally only read this book because im trying to read every piece of literature Frieda McFadden has ever made, but what was that. Literally nothing happened. I just followed an OBGYN around for 400 something pages.
Also? some of the grammar was absolutely horrendous in this book. I wasn’t gonna not finish it though. I’m a trooper guys.
but yeah. not a thriller. nothing important happened. i also want to have a child even less now and i already didn’t want one.
That’s all.

[Ayeley 𐙚 ·˚ · Rating 1 out of 5]

⭑ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒
Nuh uh I can’t do this. DNF @47%

♰ The main character had just one working brain cell and as time progressed, you realize that remaining brain cell is malfunctioning


╰┈➤ Marissa
So this African-American came to check up on her baby or whatever and right from her description everything sounds weird

“She’s tall with a broad frame, and is built sort of like a female linebacker. Her artificially straightened black hair is always pulled back into a severe bun, but now that bun has mostly come unraveled.”

So I don’t know what a linebacker is but it sounded so catty especially if you get to know the main character (she’s a judgmental BITCH) and I went to check what it was and according to google,If you ever hear someone described as being "built like a linebacker," it means the person is large and strong.

Interesting stereotypes…

The way she stressed on the artificially straightened hair? Mind you this Marissa is the only patient so far whose hair has been spoken off🕵️
And it kept being spoken off throughout her stay there

Interesting….

So it’s stated that this character had pcos? Which made her very hairy down there. It was uncontrollable. Emily knew that
Here are a few examples of weird things she did which dare I say could come off as micro aggressive?

“If someone told me I was looking at a man’s abdomen… well, it would be surprising because men don’t usually get pregnant, but the hair pattern is consistent with that.
I’m trying really hard not to react to Marissa’s bushiness, but I guess my face gives me away. I have an awful poker face. “I was going to get waxed this weekend,” she says defensively.

You’re a doctor? Where’s your professionalism?!? It also doesn’t help because she literally stated in the paragraph before that she always comes groomed except this ONE TIME.
I guess everyone had their own reaction to pubic hair so whatever. It could’ve ended there but guess what eMiLy did next she goes and engage in a conversation mocking Marissa

“I checked her about an hour ago,” Holly says. “And it wasn’t easy. I needed a pair of hedge clippers to get in there.”

Jill laughs. “I know! It’s like the Amazon jungle or something. I thought I was going to have to page Emily to bring in a rope to rescue me when I did her exam.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Marissa. I feel incredibly sympathetic to what she’s going through right now. But man, she is really hairy right now. The Amazon jungle is a pretty accurate description. “I think I found a few new life forms in there,” I chip in. “I had to fight them off with the speculum.”

Holly dissolves into giggles. “Oh my God, as soon as I get home I am going to make an appointment to get myself waxed. There is no way I’m getting delivered with an Afro down there.”

The three of us are stifling laughter at this point. I don’t know why, but there’s something about a lot of hair that is just really, really funny. I almost don’t hear the loud muttering coming from my right side.

HOW BRATTTYYY. I don’t normally gaf about authors enough to research into their life, but I did right after reading this and surprise bitchess, she’s a doctor. I fearrrr for her patients

“This woman is seriously ill and her baby is in danger, and you’re sitting here making fun of a little bit of hair.”

My sentiments exactly Eric, my sentiments exactly and after this man calls women out on hair shaming a woman who has had over six miscarriages and is literally giving birth 2 months early?!? Emily has the audacity to be angry. Her and the other doctors? What the fuck


Fret not, it gets worse.
So after she gets called out she goes to do the checkup on this woman and says this

“Listen,” I say as I straighten up and peel off my gloves, “if there’s anything you need… food, drink, toiletries…” I think again of the conversation this morning and add in a quiet voice: “Nair…”

It wasn’t enough discussing it behind her back she actually goes and tells a woman who is in labor that she should basically shave.
So Marissa rightfully gets angry, sacks her and then the next time they come back. This woman has shaved . She has dressed up and bath. On her labor bed… the fuck ?!?!


╰┈➤Mrs Watson
When you read Freida McFadden’s early book, you see a lot of fatshaming. And it was no different in this book🥰

“Ms. Watson is here for a repeat C-section. Not to be crass or anything, but Ms. Watson is huge. I genuinely think that this woman is the most obese woman I have ever done a C-section on.”

“When you hear crazy stories about women who don’t realize they’re pregnant until the day they deliver, it’s more believable when you see a woman like this.”

Wow okay.

Anyways, Mrs Watson’s husband is a severe baby lover. And has been basically pressuring her to have babies even though it affects her every time. So she asks Emily not to tell her husband she’s getting her tubes tied.

look at what that bitch does

“know we have to do it, but I still have misgivings. I’m not going to march off and tell Jack Sprat about it, but maybe I can make Ms. Watson see reason.
“Are you sure you still want your tubes tied?” I ask Ms. Watson, who is chatting with the nurse about her baby on the other side of the curtain.
Dr. Buckman looks up at me sharply. It’s definitely not standard practice to question patients on their surgery right in the middle of it. “Of course I do!” Ms. Watson says, as if this is the dumbest question she’s ever heard. And it very well might be.
“I just thought,” I babble on, despite a voice in the back of my head telling me to shut the hell up, “maybe you talked to your fiancé and changed your mind. I mean, if you want to talk to him about it first…”

So Mrs Watson rightfully snaps back and in ALL of this things she’s done? She doesn’t get reprimanded one bit.

Anywayssss worst Freida McFadden book ever.

[ChristyReadsDaily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The majority of my nursing career involved working in the Labor & Delivery unit. This book was so well written, realistic, & fast paced (just like true L&D fashion). I’m so glad that I read this book. I truly enjoyed it

[Jolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baby City by Freida McFadden and Kelley Stoddard is a fun as well as educational book about third-year residents during their training at a New York City hospital as they do their Ob/Gyn rotation. The story focuses on Emily’s daily routine with her various maternity patients and the trials they all endure during this wonderful but occasionally harrowing period of time. Holly, her pregnant best friend, is also training here. Emily, divorced for two years, has no time for a life after an 80+ hr work schedule. I loved the story and enjoy this author’s writing style. The multitude of typos are distracting but do not take away from the excellent story content.

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have loved to give this book 4 stars, but I just could not get past the lack of editing. I loved the characters and the stories, it was hilarious and thoughtful. Emily was a great narrator and I really enjoyed her point of view, having been in the medical field for more than a decade, I know that it was really accurate. However, I wish that the same care that went into making it medically accurate was put into the editing. If I could print this out, I would take a red Sharpie to it.

[Micaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just no! There were countless typos which made it frustrating to read. It was a drama/romance which from Freida, I was not expecting. The whole book takes place in a maternity ward/ Obgyn. It was all very negative and made it sound like patients are such a burden & an annoyance no matter the circumstances. The characters all either had terrible attitudes or were completely incompetent, so you really didn’t like anybody. All in all it was very disappointing to say the least!

[Tarini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. But found it a little boring reading about similar cases multiple times. Not my favourite book, Frieda.

[Reviews.with.Bianca · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a total letdown. The protagonist was self-centred and spent most of the story whining about her job and her intern, Caroline. Speaking of Caroline—she was without a doubt the most annoying character I’ve ever encountered. The entire story felt like a boring monologue of complaints with no substance or depth. The way the doctors mocked patients behind their backs was the final nail in the coffin. Any attempt at humor fell completely flat, making the book even more unbearable. It was a struggle to finish, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

[Heather Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

This is the second book I've read from this author, and really love her style. The book is witty & fast paced, with a great balance of sorrow & joy of the labor stories. My only complaint is that there are a few grammatical errors that should've been corrected by an editor. Despite this, I found it hard to put the book down and will definitely be on the look out for any more works by Freida McFadden.

[Mairead Gillespie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i feel like i just read a nursing textbook but in a good way. most of the parts were about the main character getting mad at one of the residents for the crazy things she does but it made me laugh & felt relatable. this book was more of a rom com in a way, but i enjoyed this different genre from freida

[Ryan Hardin · Rating 5 out of 5]

the labor & delivery nurse in me absolutely loved this! definitely different than all of Freida’s other books, but just made my heart happy reading about what I do on a daily. <3 all my l&d peeps MUST read.

[Britt B · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.4⭐️

Feels so appropriate to end my year with Freida. Very different from her newer stuff but I just really enjoy her style. Had mixed feelings about the main character but once again loved the medical aspects. Would be worth checking out the trigger warnings beforehand.

[Megan O’Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am completely biased but this may be my favorite book I’ve ever read. Not the usual Freida book but she perfectly executed an accurate portrayal of labor and delivery with a non-cringey romance. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would

[Madison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I have to be done with Frieda for a while this was…not great and had one of the most unlikeable protagonists I’ve read in a while (and I read a lot of crappy thrillers!)

[Ashley Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was 400 pages, and that was probably 350 pgs too long. This book should’ve been one of Freida’s novellas. There was hardly a plot and definitely no twists. The story hardly went anywhere. “She’s just a nurse” was used enough that I wonder if Freida actually feels that way being a doctor or if she’s just trying to make an unlikable character. The main character was a L&D resident, so I thought I should enjoy this book being a L&d nurse, and while I enjoyed the medical lingo and experiences, the MC sure didn’t seem like she enjoyed her job because she was negative about everything!! Boring boring read.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just wow!!

Although it’s not your typical Freida thriller, it kept my interest peaked just as much as her thrillers. I loved this book just as much! It did not disappoint