Outlander Book Club: A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 35 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
The chapter starts with Claire heading to see Marsali. It’s clear that everyone is worried about her baby. Claire is concerned.
Movement has slowed, but everyone believes that’s due to the size of the child in the womb. It’s worth noting that now we know that movement doesn’t slow but it changes at later stages, but this was the knowledge of the time period. It makes sense when you consider that there just isn’t as much room.
Claire is more concerned that the heartbeat has slowed. She needs to induce labor, knowing that it’s safe to do so in terms of the gestation of the baby. It’s just a couple of weeks. It’s more important to get the baby out now and give it a fighting chance.
That means inducing labor, which isn’t all that safe in this time period. If Claire does a c-section, it will mean certain death for Marsali but the child would survive. Inducing Marsali could put the baby at risk, and it could mean a longer labor and more bleeding, which could then mean problems for Marsali. Claire is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
In the end, she realizes that Marsali is a little dilated. Claire can use seaweed to help open the cervix more and induce labor that way.
Fergus, who hasn’t been around much and had to be searched for, turns up. He also helps to speed up labor by suckling on Marsali’s breasts. Fergus explains that the women at the brothel in Paris would do this to help start labor. Claire had never heard of it helping with labor, but she does know that it can help slow down blood loss during labor.
At another point, Fergus and Marsali decide to have sex to speed things up. Claire notes that it is good for helping to start labor close to the end of the due date. She thinks back to when she was pregnant with Brianna and she went into labor a night after being with Frank intimately.
By the end of the chapter, the baby is born. However, Germain points out that he looks funny. Fergus calmly states that the baby is a dwarf and leaves.