Is that a joke Dr. Cook?

I'm reading Harmful Intent by Robin Cook. It's hard for me to get into his books because he always does the same thing at the beginning. He introduces a character and then kills them off. I've read quite a few of his novels recently and it seems like he always kills of a healthy young woman who is totally minding her own business. I know I will enjoy the book once I get past this initial introduction but it makes it just a little harder.

Today's book starts off with a nice young lady who is going to have her first baby. Of course we know she isn't really because she is the equivalent of the guy in the red shirt in the away team on a Star Trek episode but we pretend she is going to have a baby. On page four of the paperback version we find this comment about the obstetrician who is meant to deliver the baby:

Thank God it wasn't Braxton or Hicks. He wanted the case to go smoothly and hopefully quickly; if it had been either of the others, that wouldn't have been the case.

Of course this immediately destroys any chance of me forgetting I am reading and really getting into this story. For those of you not in the know when it comes to obstetrical terms, Braxton Hicks contractions are sometimes called false labor but what they actually are is pre labor contractions that are fairly light and help do some of the work of dilating and effacing the cervix so the baby can be born.

It's not a good idea to make silly little puns in a thriller when you're still trying to catch your reader and get them to stop paying attention to all the eleventyseven times infinity types of distraction and entertainment are out there. Just tell the story and if you must play around then do it later when we could use some comic relief.