Book Reviewed by Lisa Brown-Gilbert
A uniquely perspective re-accounting of what for many, is known to be one of life’s greatest adventures, The Destination Birth by author and recent new dad Alex Bisset, shares the touching story of the unplanned birth of his daughter. Purchase Here.
Altogether, this book is quite unique in and of itself, as it draws attention immediately by the book’s cogent content featuring twists and turns of events. Most times birth stories are told from the birthing mother’s perspective. She brings in all the gory, funny, happy, and/or sad details, of the awe-inspiring venture; meanwhile, the father’s voice in the birth scenario is almost inaudible.
However, this book brings into focus a different aspect. Told solely from his distinctive perspective of a new father, author Alex Bisset, unabashedly shares the heartwarming, humorous, intense, emotional, and compelling moments leading up to his daughter’s birth, as well as offering deep insights as to the occurrence of the unexpected with the unplanned birth of his and wife Lauren’s first child.
Moreover, the book starts with an introduction to their lives in general, including the fateful day that they found out they were pregnant. Things seemed to progress well until author Alex Bisset and wife Lauren wanted to attend a friend’s wedding in another state at 34 weeks pregnant. After attaining permission to take the trip from NY to Montana for the wedding, the couple looked forward to enjoying time with friends and celebration which for the most part they did enjoy. However, life can sometimes throw us incredible curveballs, and as it turned out one early morning while in Montana, Lauren’s water broke leading to the memorable adventure of having to birth a baby far away from home. Meanwhile, this is also a story flowing with twists, turns, and funny moments including transportation issues such as when seeking an urgent ride to the hospital, they forgot they could have called 911. As a matter of fact, not only would their child be born while present at a destination over 2000 miles away from their home and intended birthing setup but also, the baby was arriving weeks early and was breech.
Overall, I absolutely enjoyed The Destination Birth by father/author Alex Bisset. It is well-written, easily relatable, affecting, humor-filled and eye-opening. There is a lot to be gleaned from this wonderful event, especially for newbies embarking on the experience of childbirth. As well, there are life-changing lessons aplenty to be found within this documenting of a life-changing experience, especially the primary life lesson of expecting the unexpected when it comes to having a child. As a mother of six, I found this to be a refreshing take on the experience of having a child as told through the eyes of the father. I do heartily recommend this book to all expecting parents. It is a worthwhile read.
10% of all proceeds will be donated to the Bozeman-Deaconness Hospital NICU.