Q: One of the most compelling articles incorporated into Better deals with the evolution of obstetrics. In the piece, you discuss how forceps were invented but kept secret within a single family of obstetricians. How many lives do you think were lost because of that failure to share new technology? Are there any similar instances today of failure to share such technology?

A: It was more than a century that the Chamberlens kept forceps under wraps. And obstructed labor — a baby that won’t come out — was among the most common causes of newborn and maternal death. It had to have been millions of lives lost. Millions.