A Child Is Born
by Lennart Nilsson (Photographer), Lars Hamberger (Author)
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Description
"First published nearly 50 years ago, A Child is Born, broke - and continues to break- astonishing new ground by bringing to life the magic of conception, pregnancy, and birth. Deep inside a woman's body, a miracle occurs. An egg and a sperm meet and a new human being is created. Through the unique photographs of Lennart Nilsson, we see the fascinating process of fertilization unfold and watch as an embryo develops from a tiny cluster of cells into a fetus, growing and maturing day by day show more until the time comes for a newborn to meet the world outside the womb. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This is an absolutely beautiful book on human development. When I was pregnant, I came home and poured over the photos and descriptions and knew that babies are a miracle. Fascinating and informative. I loved this book.
I originally bought this book for a project in college I was working on about pregnancy. When I was pregnant years later, I pulled this off my shelf and didn't put it back until my baby was born. This is the most fascinating, interesting, and informative book I have ever seen on pregnancy. It was a reliable source of comfort to me as I wondered what what was actually going on inside of me, and I felt that I saw my baby grow because of this book. Incredible, and every pregnant woman needs to somehow get this book.
Passed down from two sisters to when I was first pregnant, it remains a classic of understanding the stages of fetal development visually, and helps to see the miracle of creation in a graphic, and gratifying, way.
Deep inside a woman’s body, a miracle occurs. An egg and sperm meet and a new human being is created. Through the unique photographs of Lennart Nilsson, we see the fascinating process of fertilization unfold and watch as an embryo develops from a tiny cluster of cells into a fetus, growing and maturing day by day until the time comes to meet the world outside the womb. The book also describes pregnancy from a parent's perspective, diving into maternity care, health during pregnancy, prenatal testing, and labor and delivery.
This book is amazing. I loved looking at it when I was little, 2nd grade, and it's even more amazing now while I am expecting.
Amazing intra-uterine photos. A thrilling sight for expectant parents.
Amazing Intrauterine photos, good for siblings
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Pregnancy, Childbirth, & The Body
1 work; 1 member
Author Information

Lars Olof Lennart Nilsson was born in Strangnas, Sweden on August 24, 1922. He received his first camera when he was 11. At the age of 15, he began taking microphotographs of bugs after seeing a documentary film about Louis Pasteur. He began his freelance career covering the liberation of Nazi-occupied Norway in the last days of World War II. show more After the war, he produced photo essays on a polar bear hunt and on a midwife who delivered 1,500 children in the Swedish mountains. He turned to microphotography after becoming fascinated by a fetus in a glass jar at Sabbatsbergs Hospital in Stockholm. Life published his first picture of an embryo in 1953. His first collection followed a human embryo's maturation from the instant a sperm cell fertilizes an egg. His photographs appeared in Life magazine in 1965 under the title The Drama of Life Before Birth. It was later expanded in book form as A Child Is Born. His other projects used micro-cameras to expose cerebral hemorrhages, the virus that causes AIDS, and tar-laden smokers' lungs. His other books included Behold Man: A Photographic Journey of Discovery Inside the Body. He also created documentaries including The Miracle of Life and Odyssey of Life. His films won three Emmy Awards. He died on January 28, 2017 at the age of 94. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Child Is Born
- Original title
- Ett barn blir till
- Original publication date
- 1965
- First words
- The revolution that occurs in a young woman's body when she becomes pregnant might be compared with another explosion of life force: the rising of sap in the spring.
- Original language
- Swedish
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Science & Nature, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 612.630222 — Applied science & technology Medicine & health Human Body Systems Reproduction; Development; Maturation Impregnation; Pregnancy; Parturition Impregnation; Pregnancy; Parturition
- LCC
- RG525 .N5413 — Medicine Gynecology and Obstetrics Gynecology and obstetrics Obstetrics
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 1,470
- Popularity
- 15,842
- Reviews
- 12
- Rating
- (4.28)
- Languages
- 12 — Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 64
- ASINs
- 17



















































