ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Baby Teeth by Celia Silvani
Baby Teeth by Celia Silvani is published by Orion and is out now. My thanks to the author and the publisher for the review copy.
They said a mother knows best and I believed them.
Was I wrong?
It is supposed to be a dream. James and I have been trying for years. But now it is starting to feel like a nightmare.Doctors don’t ask questions, or care about how you’re feeling. They just tell you what to do. They never listen.
Mam and James don’t understand either. James thinks I’m being anxious and Mam says it’ll pass. It always does. That’s what she did when Dad died.
I’ve never felt more alone. Or scared.
Then I joined an online group for mothers. A sisterhood, really. They might be on a screen, but sometimes it feels like they know me better than James. They listen, they care. It’s all I could have asked for.
Until the worst happens and I see them for who they are. But if I leave, what if they come for me next?
Baby Teeth tells the story of Claire Hansen. She’s trying to get pregnant and as time goes on she falls deeper and deeper into all the good and bad that the internet offers on the subject of pregnancy, birth and motherhood. In particular, she joins forums dedicated to TTC (trying to conceive) and then when she does get pregnant, she visits homebirth and natural birthing sites. Claire is very uncomfortable with hospitals and she finds solace and solidarity with the women who eschew all medical intervention, including scans and other vital appointments, opting to ‘freebirth’ instead.
It’s clear from the beginning that Claire is lonely in her new life in London, having moved with her husband James from their family homes in the North East. Add to that the fact that she is a very anxious person, soaking up others people’s feelings and beliefs and feeling responsibility for their mistakes, and you have somebody who is very susceptible. It takes a tragedy to show her that she must make her own decisions about her own pregnancy and birth.
This is an excellent debut novel. It highlights the very real issue of health anxiety and how the internet can be responsible for taking over our lives. Claire rarely puts her phone down and every time she picks it up a little bit more of other people’s beliefs seep into her own consciousness. It’s a distressing read at times and offers a moral dilemma: should you feel compelled to agree to medical monitoring even if you don’t want it? What if the consequences harm your unborn baby? The author does a great job at showing Claire’s feelings and how intimidated she is in medical environments. I was quite infuriated by her most of the time and I wanted to reach into the book and shake her, but I also felt sorry for her. The epilogue made me cringe!
All in all Baby Teeth was a great read, uncomfortable in many places but also true to life and rather sad.
Celia Silvani is a communications director, reality TV superfan and freelance writer who has written for Stylist, The Telegraph and BBC Future on topics ranging from weddings to hurricanes. Her debut novel, BABY TEETH, is coming out in February 2025.
Inspired by interviews with midwives and obstetricians and much time lurking in the dark corners of internet chatrooms, BABY TEETH tells the story of how two women get sucked into an online community that advocates freebirthing and “natural pregnancy,” with alternately glorious and devastating consequences.